The 

Boston  and  Maine  Railroad 

A  History  of  the  Main  Road,  with 
its  Tributary  Lines 


By  FRANCIS  B.  C.  BRADLEE 


[Reprinted  from  the  Historical  Collections  of  the  Essex  Institute 
Volumes  LVI  and  LVII] 


ESSEX  INSTITUTE 

SALEM,    MASSACHUSETTS 
I  92  I 


NEWCOMB  &  GAUSS.  Printers 

SALEM,    MASSACHUSETTS 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Hatmakket  Square  Station,  Boston,  .        .        .        Frontispiece 

Old  Lowell  Station,  Boston,       ....      Facing  page  8 

Portland  Station,  1842-1873, 8 

Haverhill  Station,  1854, 17 

Time-table,  Newburyport,  Danvers  and  Geobgbtown 

Railroad, 20 

Newburyport  Station,  1854, 22 

Georgetown  Station,  1850 24 

Topsfield  Station,  1854, 24 

Time-table,  Saugus  Bbanoh  Railroad,      ....  26 

Steamboat  •'  Daniel  Wbbstbb," 28 

Locomotive  "  Medford," 32 

Locomotive  "Lawrence," 40 

Locomotive  "Pacific," •  40 

Steamboat  "Dover," 42 

Type  of  Early  Train, 42 

Hon.  Israel  M.  Spelman 49 

Lucius  Tuttle,          - 49 

William  Mebritt, 49 

Charles  Minot 49 

"  Walker  House  "  Station,  Portland,      ....  50 

Tickets  and  Passes, 8,  56 

Locomotive  "  Mt.  Washington,"  B.  C.  &  M.  R.  R.,    .        .  64 

HoosAO  Tunnel  Under  Construction,         ....  70 

Locomotive  "Conway,"  at  Old  Orchard  Station,       .  70 

Locomotive  "  Gen.  Grant," 74 

Locomotive  "Scarborough," 74 


r  1  v>*-i 


THE  BOSTON  AND  MAINE   RAILROAD. 


A  History  of  the  Main  Road,  with  its  Tributary 

Lines. 


BY   FRANCIS   B.    C.    BRADLEE. 


It  has  been  remarked  often  that  the  present  Boston  and 
Maine  Railroad  system,  with  its  thousands  of  miles  of 
tracks  extending  through  several  States,  resembles  in 
composition  a  patch-work  quilt,  as  with  the  exception  of 
a  very  small  proportion,  the  road  consists  almost  entirely 
of  a  consolidation  of  small  railroads  formerly  independ- 
ent of  the  Boston  and  Maine  and  of  each  other.  Strange, 
also,  as  it  may  seem  to  the  present  generation,  the  Boston 
and  Maine  in  its  infancy,  eighty-five  years  ago,  derived 
its  name  and  its  corporate  existence  from  an  amalgama- 
tion of  small  branch  railroads,  which  amalgamation  was 
considered  by  our  forefathers  as  tremendous  an  under- 
taking, as  the  huge  consolidations  of  today,  and  was 
looked  upon  with  as  much  suspicion  and  disfavor. 

In  order  that  an  intelligent  understanding  may  be  had 
of  the  company's  early  history,  it  will  be  best  to  quote 
the  following  Acts  of  Legislature  incorporating  the  vari- 
ous small  railroads  which  made  up  what  was  known  as 
the  "old"  Boston  and  Maine  road  : — 

(1) 


2  THE   BOSTON   AND   MAINE   RAILROAD 

Acts  of  Massachusetts. 

An  Act,  incorporating  the  Andover  and  Wilmington  Railroad 
Corporation,  passed  March  15,  1833. 

An  Act,  authorizing  the  extension  of  the  above  to  Haverhill, 
passed  April  7,  1835. 

An  Act,  authorizing  a  further  extension,  from  Haverhill  to  the 
State  line  of  Nevr  Hampshire,  and  changing  the  name  to  the  An- 
dover and  Haverhill  Railroad  Corporation,  passed  April  7,  1837. 

An  Act,  changing  the  name  of  the  Andover  and  Haverhill  Rail- 
road Corporation  to  that  of  the  Boston  and  Portland  Railroad  Cor- 
poration, passed  April  3,  1839. 

An  Act,  to  incorporate  the  Boston  and  Maine  Extension  Railroad 
Corporation,  bringing  the  road  directly  into  Boston  to  the  terminus 
in  Haymarket  square,  passed  March  16, 1844. 

Acts  of  New  Hampshire. 

An  Act  to  incorporate  the  Boston  and  Maine  Railroad  Corpora- 
tion, from  the  State  line  of  Massachusetts  to  the  State  line  of 
Maine,  passed  June  27,  1835. 

An  Act,  to  incorporate  the  Dover  and  Winipisiogee  Railroad, 
passed  July  2,  1839. 

Acts  of  Maine. 

An  Act,  incorporating  the  Maine,  New  Hampshire  and  Massachu- 
setts Railroad  Corporation,  passed  March  30,  1836. 

An  Act,  in  addition  to  the  above,  passed  April  2,  1841,  uniting 
the  above-named  corporation  into  one  company,  by  the  name  of  the 
Boston  and  Maine  Railroad. 

The  people  of  Andover,  in  the  year  1833,  desirous  of 
obtaining  railroad  accommodations  for  their  town  and 
vicinity,  petitioned  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  for 
authority  to  locate  and  construct  a  railroad  beginning  near 
the  South  Parish  meeting-house  in  Andover,  and  thence 
to  the  Boston  and  Lowell  Railroad  in  the  town  of  Wil- 
mington, a  distance  of  less  than  eight  miles.  As  before 
mentioned,  the  charter,  under  the  name  of  the  Wilmington 
and  Andover  Railroad  Corporation,  was  approved  March 
15,  1833.  The  corporation  was  organized  in  June, 
1833,  and  the  first  report  to  the  stockholders  by  the 
directors,  Hobart  Clark,  Abraham  Marland,  Amos  Ab- 
bott, John  Smith  and  Merrill  Pettengill,  was  made  in  a 
quaint,  amusing,  and  now  very  rare  pamphlet,  dated  Oct. 


BY   FRANCIS   B.    C.    BRADLEE  3 

21,  1834.^  The  directors  at  first  had  hoped  to  secure  the 
services  of  Colonel  Loam  mi  Baldwin,  a  distinguished 
civil  engineer,  to  survey  the  road,  but  as  he  was  unable 
to  undertake  the  work,  Mr.  Joshua  Barney,  also  well 
known  in  his  profession,  who  afterwards  conducted  the 
surveys  for  the  Nashua  and  Lowell  Railroad,  was  engaged. 
An  exhibit  of  the  probable  income  of  the  road  was 
made  up  by  showing  the  number  of  stage  passengers  and 
freight  that  had  passed  from  and  through  Andover  from 
October  1,  1833  to  October  1,  1884,  as  follows  :— 

"In  the  Andover  stage,  exclusive  of  way  passengers,  as 

per  way  bills, 4,158 

"In  the  Haverhill  Company  stages  during  the  same 

time,  as  also  appears  from  their  way  bills,      .        .  8,706 

"The  Derry  stage,  which  is  only  one  a  day,  but  was 
formerly  two,  and  is  to  be  two  again  soon,  is  esti- 
mated at  nine  per  day,  making,  during  the  same 
period,  the  number  of 2,817 


"Total  number  of  stage  passengers,       ....  15,681 

The  freight  tonnage  was  obtained  in  the  same  way, 
calculating  the  amount  which  passed  through  and  from 
Andover  to  and  from  Boston,  conveyed  in  baggage 
wagons,  and  amounted  to  5,700  tons.  Receipts  from  the 
above  number  of  passengers  and  tons  of  freight  per 
annum  was  estimated  at  '123,160.  Toll  to  be  paid  the 
Boston  and  Lowell  Railroad  on  this  amount  of  business 
was  figured  at  $2,594.34,  leaving  for  earnings  on  the  new 
road  $20,566.  The  capital  stock  authorized  was  $100,000, 
a  large  amount  being  held  by  the  Andover  Academy 
and  Theological  Seminary ;  and  the  expense  of  operating 
this  road  was  calculated  to  be,  including  six  per  cent,  in- 
terest on  capital,  salaries,  repairs  and  other  contingencies, 
$17,008,  which  netted,  after  paying  all  expenses,  the  sum 
of  $3,556.41. 

It  was  planned  that  the  road  should  have  a  single 
track,  with  one    or  more   turnouts,    laid    with  iron  rails 

'First  Report  of  the  Directors  of  the  Andover  and  Wilmington 
R.  R.    Andover,  23  pp.,  1834. 


4  THE   BOSTON   AND   MAINE  RAILROAD 

placed  on  wooden  sleepers,  with  longitudinal  sills,  the 
total  cost  of  which  was  estimated  at  $77,002.  Very  few, 
if  any,  iron  rails  were  then  rolled  in  this  country,  practi- 
cally all  having  to  be  imported  from  England. 

The  Andover  Branch  Railroad  was  started  mainly,  if 
not  wholly,  with  a  view  to  local  business,  and  was  entire- 
ly dependent  on  the  good  will  of  the  Boston  and  Lowell 
road  for  its  direct  connection  with  Boston  and  use  of  the 
latter's  terminal  station  there.  Nevertheless,  that  it  was 
considered  a  formidable  undertaking  at  that  time  there 
can  be  no  doubt,  as  nearly  three  and  one-half  years  were 
consumed  in  its  construction.  It  was,  however,  after 
much  delay,  completed  and  opened  to  the  public  on  August 
8,  1836. 

The  only  newspaper  article  on  the  inauguration  of  this 
railroad  is  a  meagre  and  unsatisfactory  account  which 
appeared  in  the  Salem  Gazette,  August  2,  1836  : — 

"Andover  and  Boston  R.  Rd. 

"This  road  is  finished  from  Wilmingrton  to  Andover. 
The  cars  were  to  commence  running  last  week.  The  An- 
dover route  is  now  only  between  Wilmington  and  An- 
dover, a  distance  of  but  a  little  over  7  miles.  At  Wil- 
mington the  road  intersects  the  Lowell  road.  This  road 
it  is  expected  will  be  completed  from  Andover  to  Haver- 
hill within  a  year ;  and  will  probably  terminate  at  the 
latter  place,  not  proceeding  further  north,  as  was  antici- 
pated a  year  since." 

The  two  original  locomotives  on  the  road  were  the 
"Andover"  and  the  "Haverhill,"  and  they  are  described 
as  of  "the  high  pressure  type,  each  of  30  horse  power, "^ 
with  two  driving  wheels.  Until  about  1848  cabs  were 
unknown  on  locomotives  in  New  England,  the  engineers 
and  firemen  facing  the  elements  on  the  open  platforms  as 
best  they  could.  In  1837  another  locomotive,  the  "Rock- 
ingham," of  exactly  the  same  size  as  the  two  earlier  ones, 
was  added  to  the  road.  These  three  engines  were  built 
by  the  Locks  and  Canals  Works  at  Lowell,  Mass. 

We  have  no  means  of  knowing  what  kind  of  passenger 
cars  were  first  used  on  the  Boston  and  Maine,  but  proba- 
bly they  were  much  like  those  on  the  Lowell  road,  resem- 
bling stage  coaches  mounted  on  frames.  The  wheels  were 


BY  FRANCIS   B.   C.   BRADLEE  6 

adapted  to  the  rails,  and  each  car  was  divided  into  three 
compartments,  with  doors  on  the  sides  and  the  passengers 
sitting  back  to  back. 

During  the  construction  of  the  Andover  branch,  the 
people  of  Haverhill,  moved  by  a  desire  to  place  their  own 
town  on  an  equality  with  Andover,  sought  and  obtained 
authority  on  April  7,  1835,  "to  extend  the  same  in  an 
easterly  direction  to  the  Central  Village  in  Haverhill." 
This  extension  was  opened  to  Bradford,  on  the  opposite 
shore  of  the  Merrimac  river  from  Haverhill,  17  miles 
from  Wilmington,  on  October  26,  1837.  Haverhill,  then 
a  small  village,  gave  the  railroad  but  a  meagre  amount  of 
business.  Even  after  the  road  was  extended  across  the 
river  to  what  is  now  a  city  of  over  forty  thousand  in- 
habitants, one  day's  entire  receipts  for  tickets  amounted 
to  a  sum  less  than  three  dollars. 

About  this  time  the  management  of  the  Andover  and 
Haverhill  road  began  to  consider  an  extension  of  its  lines, 
and  after  a  series  of  meetings  held  at  Exeter,  Dover, 
N.  H.,  and  other  places,  the  project  was  evolved  of  ex- 
tending the  line  to  the  Maine  State  boundary,  to  connect 
there  with  the  Portland,  Saco  and  Portsmouth  Railroad, 
then  just  chartered  in  the  State  of  Maine.  This  would 
make  a  through  road  to  Portland,  to  be  called  the  "upper 
route,"  in  contradistinction  to  the  "lower  route,"  as  the 
Eastern  Railroad,  then  in  course  of  construction,  was 
called.  On  April  5,  1837,  further  authority  was  obtained 
to  extend  from  Bradford  to  the  New  Hampshire  line. 
The  latter  State  had,  as  far  back  as  June  27,  1835,  given 
permission  to  build  the  road  through  its  territory.  Un- 
fortunately at  this  time  the  Andover  and  'Haverhill  com- 
pany was  in  debt,  its  credit  gone,  and  the  directors  were 
supplying  its  immediate  wants  by  their  personal  security. 

In  April,  1838,  Thomas  West  of  Haverhill  was  elected 
a  director,  and  soon  after  president ;  he  was  a  man  of 
great  energy,  foresight  and  strength  of  character,  and  to 
him,  more  than  to  anyone  else,  is  due  the  completion  of 
the  road  soon  to  be  known  as  the  Boston  and  Maine.  To 
retrieve  the  company  and  remove  its  embarrassments,  new 
stock  was  issued  and  sold  to  the  stockholders  and  others 
at  $60  per  share ;  this  afforded  partial  relief.     New  stock 


6  THE  BOSTON   AND   MAINE  RAILROAD 

was  again  issued  and  sold  at  auction  in  Boston  at  $72  to 
$15  per  share.  These  funds',  with  a  loan  of  the  State 
credit  of  Massachusetts  of  150,000,  in  addition  to  the 
$100,000  previously  granted,  enabled  the  company  to 
build  a  bridge  over  the  Merrimack  river  at  Haverhill 
and  complete  the  road  to  South  Berwick  Junction,  Maine, 
where  it  connected  with  the  Portland,  Saco  and  Ports- 
mouth Railroad. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  in  these  early  days  the 
only  way  to  obtain  funds  for  a  railroad  corporation  was 
by  means  of  new  issues  of  stock,  or  notes  endorsed  by 
the  directors  and  principal  stockholders.  Not  until  1854 
did  the  Massachusetts  Legislature  pass  a  law  allowing 
railroads  to  fund  their  floating  debts  by  means  of  bond 
issues.  The  road  was  opened  to  East  Kingston,  N.  H., 
January  1,  1840  ;  to  Exeter,  N.  H.,  June  26,  1840  ;  to 
Newmarket,  N.  H.,  July  28,  1841  ;  Dover,  to  the  tempo- 
rary depot  in  Cofi&n's  Cut,  September  24,  1841 ;  to  the 
permanent  depot,  July  5,  1842.  It  finally  reached  its 
terminus  at  South  Berwick  Junction,  February  2,  1843. 
At  this  time  the  present  city  of  Lawrence  barely  existed, 
except  for  two  or  three  houses,  and  the  line  of  the  Boston 
and  Maine  did  not  pass  within  a  mile  of  it ;  afterwards 
the  location  of  the  road  was  changed  to  include  Lawrence, 
as  will  be  seen  later  on. 

The  Portland,  Saco  and  Portsmouth  company  for  thirty 
years  was  controlled  partially  by  the  Boston  and  Maine 
as  its  connecting  link  with  Portland,  so  a  short  account 
of  it  may  well  be  included  here.  On  March  14,  1837, 
the  Legislature  of  Maine  incorporated  this  company  with 
a  capital  of  $1,390,000,  in  shares  of  $100  each.  By  its 
charter  the  company  was  to  build  a  railroad  beginning  at 
Portland  and  running  through  the  towns  of  Scarborough, 
Saco,  Kennebunk,  North  and  South  Berwick  (South  Ber- 
wick Junction  was  34  miles  distant  from  Portland),  Eliot 
and  Kittery,  Maine,  to  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  52  miles  in 
length,  to  connect  with  the  Eastern  Railroad  at  the  latter 
place.  Work  was  begun  in  1841,  and  the  road  opened 
between  Portland  and  Saco  on  February  7,  1842.  It  was 
entirely  completed  November  21,  1842,  the  total  cost  of 
construction  amounting  to  -11,107,240. 


BY   FRANCIS   B.   C.   BRADLEB  «  7 

On  January  27,  1843,  the  Portland,  Saco  and  Ports- 
mouth Railroad  was  leased  indefinitely  to  the  Eastern  and 
Boston  and  Maine  companies  at  an  annual  rental  of  6  per 
cent,  with  a  penalty  of  $200,000  on  each  party  for  a 
breach  of  contract.  The  road,  however,  was  operated 
independently,  and  had  its  own  locomotives  and  rolling 
stock,  although  the  latter  only  amounted  to  five  or  six 
passenger  cars  and  about  fifty  freight  cars,  as  the  trains 
were  almost  entirely  made  up  of  Eastern  and  Boston  and 
Maine  cars  which  ran  through  from  Boston  to  Portland. 
The  Eastern  train  would  be  taken  over  at  Portsmouth, 
and  when  South  Berwick  Junction  was  reached  the  Bos- 
ton and  Maine  train  was  coupled  on,  and  both  trains,, 
drawn  by  one  locomotive,  would  proceed  to  Portland,  the 
running  time  from  Boston  being  five  hours  and  the  fare 
$4  on  either  road.  The  Portland,  Saco  and  Portsmouth 
locomotives  were  always  very  heavy  and  large  to  enable 
them  to  draw  both  trains.  Their  pioneers  were  the  "Cas- 
co,"  "Saco,"  "York,"  "Cumberland,"  "Kennebec"  and 
"Penobscot." 

The  first  station  in  Portland  was  of  the  "dead  end" 
variet}^  and  was  situated  on  Commercial  street,  near  the 
steamboat  wharves.  This  location,  not  far  from  the  water 
front,  was  of  great  importance  to  the  railroad  in  the  case 
of  through  passengers  and  freight,  as  for  some  years  after 
1842  there  was  no  connecting  railroad  in  Maine  below 
Portland,  and  most  of  the  passengers  going  further  east 
availed  themselves  of  the  water  route. 

When  the  railroad  to  Portland  was  first  opened  the  va- 
rious steamboat  lines  running  east  from  Boston  kept  up 
a  constant  and  merciless  competition,  so  much  so  that  in 
order  to  meet  it  the  three  railroad  companies,  besides 
controlling  the  steamboats  "Huntress"  and  "M.  Y.  Beach" 
that  plied  from  Portland  to  Bath  and  Bangor,  were  forced 
to  occasionally  reduce  their  fare  to  $1  between  Boston 
and  Portland.  Although  the  Boston  and  Maine  was  joint 
lessor  with  the  Eastern  of  the  Portland,  Saco  and  Ports- 
mouth, the  Eastern,  however,  alwaj^s  seemed  to  exert  the 
most  influence.  Later  on  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
Eastern  obtained  the  sole  control  of  the  Portland, 
Saco     and    Portsmouth,    thus    forcing   the    Boston   and 


8  THE   BOSTON    AND   MAINE   RAILROAD 

Maine  to  build  their  extension  from  South  Berwick 
to  Portland.  In  April,  1847,  a  new  agreement  was 
made  between  the  Eastern,  Boston  and  Maine,  and 
Portland,  Saco  and  Portsmouth  roads,  by  which  the  profits 
of  the  latter,  if  they  amounted  to  more  than  the  rates  of 
interest  guaranteed,  should  be  divided  equally  between 
the  two  former  companies.  This  was  most  profitable  to 
the  Boston  and  Maine,  as  in  later  years  they  netted  as 
much  as  $50,000  in  a  single  year. 

The  line  of  the  Boston  and  Maine  to  South  Berwick 
Junction  was  constructed  under  the  superintendence  of 
James  Hayward,  a  director  of  the  company,  an  eminent 
civil  engineer,  whose  able  associates  were  John  W.  Brooks, 
Israel  M.  Spelman,  afterwards  the  company's  president, 
and  Edward  Appleton.  All  the  contract  work  was  exe- 
cuted by  Jonathan  Crane  and  his  son  Edward,  of  Haver- 
hill, who  together  at  various  times  completed  the  entire 
line.  The  roadbed  of  the  Boston  and  Maine  was  thoroughly 
gravelled  and  made  elastic  and  for  a  long  time  was  con- 
sidered one  of  the  best  in  the  country.  This  fine  condi- 
tion of  the  track  and  the  thorough  superintendence  it 
enjoyed  made  it  a  remarkably  exceptional  road  as  to  "ac- 
cidents," so  called,  in  contrast  to  the  Eastern  Railroad, 
only  one  severe  one  having  occurred  during  its  entire 
existence. 

From  1839  to  1843  the  road  was  known  as  the  "Boston 
and  Portland  Railroad,"  but  in  the  latter  year  the  more 
familiar  name  of  "Boston  and  Maine"  was  adopted.  The 
original  capital  of  the  Boston  and  Maine  consisted  of  six 
thousand  shares  of  a  par  value  of  $100  each.  On  July  24, 
1843,  the  road's  first  branch,  from  RoUinsford  to  Great 
Falls,  N.  H.,  a  distance  of  three  miles,  was  opened.  From  a 
time-table  dated  November  1,  1841,  and  entitled  "Boston 
and  Portland  Railroad — road  opened  to  Dover — 48  miles 
from  Portland,"  we  learn  that  trains  left  Boston  "at  7  1-2 
and  11  1-2  A.  M.,  and  5  P.  M.  for  Andover,  Haverhill, 
Exeter,  New-Market,  Durham  and  Dover"  .  .  .  return- 
ing "left  Dover  for  Boston  (and  bv  connection  for  Low- 
ell and  Nashua)  at  5  1-2  and  9  A.^M.  and  3  1-2  P.  M. 
.  .  .  the  depot  in  Boston  is  on  Lowell  street,  and  passen- 
gers taking  the  cars  of  this  road  are  subjected   to    no  de- 


OLD   LOWELL    STATION    IN   BOSTON 
Built  in  1835  and  used  by  the  Boston  and  Maine  until  I  845 


CooD  far  a  passage  to  any   Station   on   the  Easiern^or 

Huuluu  ami  MRin«  Rail    Road,  in   the   Morning  Train| 

oiily. 

,^  {  ^ 

Tjcket  Seller. 


§3^  5c?' I'^asenjer^  afe  not  allowed  to  tahe,  nor  will  these  Conipanies  be  responsi-^jp 
a^ble  for  Baggage  if  it  exceed  FIFTY  DOLLARS  in  value,  unless  Freiglil  on  any^p 
^KaiWIoicn  tlieroto  be  paid  ill  advance;  and  this  notice  forms  part  ofall  contiwcts  forf^ 
^^  tT>ni»(iortntioii  of  passengers  and  their  effects.  ^^ 

m  J.    RUSSm.!.,   JR.,  Supt.  P  S  fy  P  R  R    11 


1     o.OM,c 


THE   RAILROAD   STATION   AT  PORTLAND 

Built  in  I  842  for  the  Portland,  Saco  and  Portsmouth  R.  R.  and  used  by  the  Boston  and 

Maine  R.  R.  until  I  873 


BY   FRANCIS   B.    C.    BRADLEB  V 

tention  by  change  of  conveyance.  Travellers  from  the 
northern  and  eastern  parts  of  New  Hampshire,  or  from 
any  part  of  the  State  of  Maine,  will  find  that  this  route 
has  superior  advantages  in  passing  to  and  from  the  city 
of  Boston.  Merchandize  Trains  will  leave  Boston  and 
Dover  every  morning  at  6  o'clock."  It  is  not  uninterest- 
ing, also,  to  note  that  a  little  later  Niles'  express  had 
been  established  on  the  line  of  the  Boston  and  Maine  and 
advertised  itself  in  the  following  quaint  way  : — 

NiLEs's  Express  to  Exeter,  Newmarket,   and   Dover,  N.  H. 

The  subscriber  would  give  notice  that  he  has  commenced  run- 
Hing  an  Express,  in  connection  with  the  Boston  and  Portland  Rail- 
road, to  Exeter,  New-Market  and  Dover,  and  solicits  a  share  of  the 
public  patronage.  He  has  been  a  driver  of  the  Dover  and  Boston 
stage  for  the  last  twenty  years;  he  flatters  himself  that  he  is  favor- 
ably known  as  a  faithful  carrier  and  competent  to  the  discharge  of 
any  business  that  may  be  entrusted  to  his  care.  He  will  leave  Bos- 
ton for  Dover  every  afternoon,  at  5  o'clock,  and  any  packages  left 
at  No.  11  Elm  street  by  4  o'clock  will  meet  with  attention.  All 
packages  for  Great  Falls,  South  Berwick,  Kennebunk,  Saco  and 
Portland,  as  well  as  for  any  of  the  towns  in  the  N.  E.  part  of  New 
Hampshire,  will  be  taken  as  above,  and  forwarded  by  the  several 
stages  which  he  intersects  at  Dover. 

Daniel  Niles. 

Boston,  Jan.  26,  1842. 

Many  if  not  most  of  the  early  railroad  conductors  in 
New  England  were  former  stage  drivers.  The  companies 
themselves  were  glad  to  employ  them,  for  they  were,  as  a 
class,  responsible  men  and  used  to  the  travelling  public 
and  its  ways. 

Another  time-table,  dated  May  20,  1 844,  after  the  road 
was  opened  in  its  entire  length,  is  as  follows  : — 

Boston  and  Maine  Railroad, 

Boston  to  Portland. 

Summer   Arrangement,    1844. 

On  and  after  May  20,  1844,  Trains  will  run  daily,  Sundays  ex- 
cepted, as  follows,  viz:  Leave  Boston  for  Portland  at  7  A.  M.  and 
2^  P.  M.     Leave  Boston  for  Somersworth   (Great  Falls),   at   7  and 


10 


THE   BOSTON    AND   MAINE   RAILROAD 


103  A.  M.,  2i  and  6  P.  M.  Leave  Portland  for  Boston,  at  6^  A.  M. 
and  4  P.  M.  Leave  Somersworth  (Great  Falls),  for  Boston,  at  4f 
andS  A.  M.,  3  and  5|  P.  M. 

The  depot  in  Boston  is  at  the  foot  of  Lowell  street.  .  .  . 

Passengers  are  not  allovv-ed  to  carry  Baggage  beyond  $50  in  value, 
unless  notice  is  given,  and  an  extra  amount  paid,  at  the  rate  of  the 
price  of  a  ticket  for  every  1500  additional  value. 

Conductors. 
Jonathan  B.  Wadleigh,  Samuel  B.  Corliss, 


Charles  E.  Dearborn, 
Ansell  Tucker, 


Daniel  V.  Hoit, 
Joseph  L.  Smith. 


Table  of  Distances  oveb  the  Boston  and  Maine  Railroad, 
Boston  to  Portland. 


Miles 

Miles 

Medford, 

5 

South  Newmarket, 

53 

South  Woburn, 

8 

Newmarket, 

56 

Woburn, 

10 

Durham, 

61 

Wilmington, 

15 

Madbury, 

63 

Ballard  vale, 

21 

Dover, 

66 

Andover, 

23 

Somersworth, 

69 

North  Andover, 

26 

Berwick, 

70 

Bradford, 

31 

South  Berwick, 

74 

Haverhill, 

32 

P.  S.  and  P.  R. 

Rd. 

Atkinson, 

36 

North  Berwick, 

76 

Plaistow, 

37 

Wells, 

81 

Newtown, 

40 

Kennebunk, 

86 

Kingston, 

41 

Saco, 

96 

East  Kingston, 

44 

Scarborough, 

104 

Exeter, 

49 

Portland, 

109 

Cha's  Minot,  Sup't. 

A  picture  of  a  train  in  the  original  of  the  time-table 
shows  a  more  modern  type  of  car  than  at  first  used,  re- 
sembling in  a  slight  degree  those  of  today.  These  cars 
had  flat  roofs  and  eight  wheels  each.  They  were  equipped 
with  platforms  and  the  doors  were  at  the  ends ;  the  seats 
were  arranged  as  at  present,  each  car  holding  from  fifty 
to  sixty  persons.  Among  the  early  locomotive  engineers 
on  the  Boston  and  Maine  were  David  E.  Carey,  Samuel 
Veazey,  Charles  H.  Sherman  and  William  D.  Hall. 

The  Boston  and  Maine  was  fortunate  in  the  selection 
of  its  first   superintendent,    Charles    Minot.     Mr.  Minot 


BY   FRANCIS   B.   C.   BRADLEE  11 

was  a  native  of  Haverhill,  Massachusetts,  his  father  being 
a  judge  of  the  Massachusetts  Supreme  Court.  The  son, 
also,  was  educated  for  the  legal  profession,  but  his  mind 
was  of  a  more  practical  bent,  and  he  learned  locomotive 
engineering,  which  led  to  the  office  of  superintendent 
of  the  road.  He  was  a  man  of  great  executive  ability 
and  very  much  determined  in  all  he  undertook.  It  is  said 
he  was  quite  democratic  with  his  men,  meeting  them 
always  on  an  apparent  equality.  He,  however,  was  high 
tempered  and  not  to  be  trifled  with  in  business. 

In  1850  he  left  the  Boston  and  Maine  and  became  su- 
perintendent of  the  Erie  Railroad ;  so  popular  was  he 
among  the  employees  that  several  of  the  Boston  and 
Maine  engineers  left  with  hiui  and  also  joined  the  Erie. 
On  the  latter  road  Mr.  Minot  inaugurated  the  system  of 
dispatching  trains  by  telegraph.  He  afterwards  was  gen- 
eral manager  of  the  Michigan  Southern  road,  but  finally 
retired  and  returned  to  Haverhill  to  live,  where  he  died 
in  1866. 

As  has  been  seen,  the  main  line  of  the  Boston  and 
Maine  in  1844  extended  from  Wilmington  Junction  to 
South  Berwick  Junction,  a  distance  of  58  miles,  more 
than  double  the  entire  length  of  the  Boston  and  Lowell 
Railroad,  with  which  it  connected  at  Wilmington,  depend- 
ing upon  the  latter  road  for  the  prompt  and  efficient 
transportation  of  its  passengers  and  freight  to  Boston. 
The  Boston  and  Lowell,  then  in  its  glory,  cared  but  little 
for  the  Boston  and  Maine  or  its  business,  and  by  their 
unwillingness  to  subject  themselves  to  any  inconvenience 
or  delay  caused  great  embarrassment  and  vexation  to  the 
officials  and  patrons  of  the  latter  company. 

The  urgent  necessity  of  securing  an  independent  line 
to  Boston  was  so  apparent  that  a  petition  was  presented 
to  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  asking  for  authority 
to  build  what  was  known  as  the  "Boston  and  Maine 
Extension"  from  Wilmington  to  Boston,  a  distance  of 
fifteen  miles.  This  plan  also  involved  the  construction 
of  a  bridge  across  the  Charles  river.  Permission  was 
granted  March  16,  1844,  work  was  immediately  begun, 
and  the  new  line  opened  to  a  temporary  station  in  Boston, 
corner  of  Traverse  and  Canal  streets,  early  in  1845. 


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3E    -SEdtl 


14  THE   BOSTON   AND   MAINE   BAILROAD 

A  permanent  station,  the  well-known  brick  building  in 
Haymarket  Square,  so  long  in  existence,  was  first  used 
on  October  20  of  the  same  year. 

The  granting  of  permission  by  the  Legislature  to  build 
a  new  railroad  leading  directly  into  Boston  caused  great 
excitement  at  the  State  House  and  the  measure  was  bit- 
terly opposed  by  the  Boston  and  Lowell  Railroad  man- 
agement on  the  ground  that  the  State  had  promised  the 
Lowell  companj'-  that,  for  thirty  years,  no  parallel  road 
should  be  constructed  within  four  miles  on  either  side  of 
its  line.  When  first  built,  the  Haymarket  Square  station 
was  the  largest  in  Boston  and  considered  one  of  the  finest 
in  the  country.  There  were  two  tracks  in  the  train  shed, 
convenient  waiting  and  eating  rooms  for  travellers  on  the 
lower  floor,  while  the  company's  oflBces  were  located  on 
the  second  floor.  The  amount  of  business  then  transacted 
by  the  Boston  and  Maine  may  be  judged  by  the  fact  that 
for  some  years  after  the  station  was  built  part  of  the  up- 
per floor  was  rented  for  a  carpet  shop. 

In  1867  the  station,  which  previous  to  that  time  was  only 
261  feet  long  from  the  Haymarket  Square  front,  was  ex- 
tended to  Traverse  street  and  a  third  track  built  in  the 
train  shed.  When  the  Boston  and  Maine  first  entered 
Boston  on  its  own  tracks  there  was  a  city  ordinance  for- 
bidding locomotives  to  cross  Causeway  street.  Accord- 
ingly for  many  years  the  trains  were  hauled  in  and  out  of 
the  Haymarket  Square  station  by  means  of  horses,  and 
there  are  men  still  alive  who  remember  the  old  passenger 
cars  fitted  with  ringbolts  for  the  hooks  of  the  towlines. 

The  following  incident,  taken  from  the  Salem  Grazette 
of  September  28,  1855,  is  well  worth  reproducing,  as  it 
illustrates  some  of  the  curious  accidents  that  happened 
when  railroads  were  comparatively  new  : — 

Singular  Raileoad  Accident. — Yesterday  forenoon  an  acci- 
dent of  a  very  singular  nature  occurred  on  the  Boston  and  Maine 
Railroad,  near  the  Boston  depot.  A  train  was  proceeding  into  Bos- 
ton, when, — a  sufficient  momentum  to  carry  the  cars  to  the  point 
where  the  horse  power  is  applied,  having  been  attained, — the  en- 
gine was  unhitched  from  the  train,  and  was  proceeding  forward, 
when  the  engineer  discovered  that  the  switch  had  not  been  proper- 
ly changed,  and  reversed  bis  engine,  which  met  the  coming  train. 


BY   FRANCIS   B.   C.   BRADLEE  15 

When  they  perceived  that  a  concnssion  was  inevitable,  the  en- 
gineer and  fireman  jumped  off.  "When  the  train  struck,  the  force 
turned  the  valve  so  as  to  again  let  the  steam  on,  causing  the 
locomotive  to  again  start  forward  "on  its  own  hook,"  and 
soon  to  gain  a  rate,  we  understand,  of  forty  miles  an  hour.  A 
switchman  who  perceived  the  engine  dashing  forward  so  rapidly, 
naturally  supposed  something  to  be  wrong  and  very  prudently  dis- 
connected the  track  by  turning  the  switch,  which  turned  the  engine 
off,  plunging  it  into  the  ground. 

Had  the  engine  proceeded  into  the  depot  at  its  furious  rate,  the 
damage  and  perhaps  loss  of  life  might  have  been  very  great.  It 
was  certainly  an  accident  of  a  very  singular  nature. 

The  Haymarket  Square  station  was  used  until  the  com- 
pletion of  the  North  Station  in  1894  ;  it  was  finally  torn 
down  in  1897  to  make  way  for  the  present  branch  of  the 
Boston  City  Hospital. 

At  the  time  of  the  extension  of  the  road  from  Wil- 
mington to  Boston,  Lawrence  had  begun  to  show  signs  of 
becoming  a  prosperous  manufacturing  town ;  the  Essex 
Company  had  settled  there  and  commenced  an  extensive 
outlay  of  capital.  The  directors  of  the  Boston  and 
Maine,  with  commendable  foresight,  realized  that  Law- 
rence would,  in  the  future,  require  greater  railroad  facili- 
ties, and  so  on  March  3,  1846,  obtained  the  approval  of 
an  act  changing  the  location  of  the  road  between  Andover 
and  North  Andover,  running  down  the  valley  of  the 
Shawsheen  river  to  a  point  near  Andover  bridge  ;  thence 
along  the  south  bank  of  the  Merrimack  river  to  the  old 
line  of  the  road  at  North  Andover,  building  a  new  bridge 
across  the  Merrimack  to  deliver  passengers  in  Lawrence 
directly  upon  its  north  bank. 

The  new  line  was  completed  and  opened  to  the  public 
on  July  3,  1848.  It  was  built  with  one  track  only,  the 
double  track  at  that  time  extending  only  as  far  as  Read- 
ing, twelve  miles  from  Boston.  It  was  furnished  with 
60-pound  T  rails,  but  the  culverts  and  bridges  were  con- 
structed for  the  future  reception  of  a  double  track.  These 
two  extensions  of  the  Boston  and  Maine  had  meant  the 
construction  of  26  miles  of  new  road  and  necessitated 
the  removal  of  the  company's  repair  and  car  shops  from 
Andover  to  Lawrence.     The  outlay    of  capital  had  been 


16  THE   BOSTON   AND   MAINE   RAILROAD 

large  and  was  met  by  the  issue,  at  par,  of  3,410  shares  of 
stock. 

Two  branch  roads  were  also    constructed    by  the  com- 
pany at  this  time,  the  Medford  branch  and  the  Methuen 
branch.     The  Medford  branch,  which  extended  from  Med- 
ford Junction  on  the  main  road,  now    called    Wellington, 
three  and  one-half  miles  from  Boston,  to  Medford,   a  dis- 
tance of  two  miles,  was  opened  March  1,  1847.  It  proved 
a  wise  investment,  as  it  resulted  in  a  large  suburban  busi- 
ness, which,  however,  has  fallen  off  of  late   years   owing 
to  the    extension   of  the   trolley    cars.     The   other  line, 
known  as  the  Methuen  branch,  ran  from  the    south  bank 
of  the  Merrimack  river  at  Lawrence  to  the  State  line  of 
New  Hampshire,    a  distance    of  two   and    three-quarters 
miles.     This  branch  formed    part   of  a   railroad    twenty- 
seven  miles  in  length  connecting  Lawrence  and  Manches- 
ter, N.  H.,  but  owing  to  the  different  State    laws,  it  was 
thought  best  to  divide  it  into  two    distinct  corporations. 
It  was  opened  on  August  27,  1849,  but  the  next  year  the 
Boston  and  Maine  very  foolishly  leased  their  part  of  the 
road  to  the  Manchester  aad  Lawrence  Railroad  Company. 
It  turned  out  that  the   route    to    Boston    was    five  miles 
shorter  via  this  line  than  by  way  of  Concord  and  Lowell, 
and  in    1867    the    Manchester   and   Lawrence    road  was 
leased  on  a  ten  per  cent,  basis  to  the  Boston  and  Maine's 
then  bitter  enemy,    the    Concord    Railroad.     Eventually, 
however,  on  June  29,  1895,  the   Concord   Railroad  itself 
was  leased  to  the  Boston  and  Maine,  and  on  this  occasion 
the  Manchester  and  Lawrence  paid   a   cash   dividend  of 
fifty  per  cent. 

The  extensions  and  additions  to  the  road  encountered 
much  and  bitter  opposition  from  minority  stockholders, 
who  could  not  foresee  the  future  wants  of  the  company. 
However,  the  Boston  and  Maine  became  a  financial  suc- 
cess from  the  time  it  entered  Boston  on  its  own  tracks.  Its 
stock  gradually  advanced  to  twenty-five  per  cent,  above  par. 
The  break-down  of  Hudson,  the  great  railroad  king  in 
London,  led  to  a  corresponding  panic  in  railroad  securities 
in  this  country,  and  the  stock  of  the  Boston  and  Maine 
road  fell  to  85  or  90.  In  their  alarm  the  minority  stock- 
holders appointed  a  committee  of  investigation,  a  common 


—  -o 
I-  ■ 
5  £ 


a  m 


BY     FRANCIS    B.    C.    BRADLEE  17 

occurrence  in  the  early  days  of  railroads  when  the  sta- 
bility of  the  investment  was  still  doubted.  Edward  Crane 
of  Haverhill  was  appointed  chairman,  and  the  committee 
in  its  report,  May,  1849,  suggested  to  the  stockholders 
that  if  they  would  preserve  the  value  of  their  property 
they  should  keep  the  control  of  the  increase  of  capital 
stock  in  their  own  hands,  and  never  trust  it  primarily  to 
the  board  of  directors.  After  the  adoption  of  a  more 
conservative  policy,  the  affairs  of  the  corporation  went 
on  prosperously  for  many  years. 

The  report  of  the  investigating  committee  of  1849  also 
reveals  many  interesting  and  valuable  facts  connected 
with  early  railroading  which  are  well  worth  mentioning. 
There  were  then  45,000  shares  of  stock  issued  by  the  Bos- 
tonand  Maine  and  owned  by  people  of  the  three  States 
of  Massachusetts,  New  Hampshire  and  Maine.  The 
books  showed  an  expenditure,  from  the  beginning  of  the 
road  to  June  1,  1849,  of  $843,532.27.  Of  that  amount 
bridges  had  cost  $358,683  ;  depots,  engine  houses,  ma- 
chine shops  and  other  buildings,  $404,854,  and  land  and 
fencing  and  rolling  stock  the  balance.  At  that  time  the 
road  employed  430  persons,  and,  in  view  of  its  develop- 
ment since,  the  list  is  interesting.  In  the  superintendent's 
office  there  was  a  cashier  who  was  paid  $1,000  a  year, 
two  clerks  at  $480  each,  and  an  office  boy  at  $180.  There 
were  nine  conductors  on  passenger  trains,  five  being 
paid  $50  a  montb,  one  employed  at  $45  a  month, 
two  at  $41.67,  and  one  at  $35  a  month.  Of  the 
four  freight  conductors  one  was  paid  $45  a  month 
and  three  $40.  There  were  twenty-four  ticket  agents,  the 
highest  salaried  man  being  the  official  at  Boston  at  $60 
a  month.  Those  at  Lawrence  and  Great  Falls  received 
150  a  month,  while  Andover,  North  Andover,  Exeter, 
Newmarket  and  Dover  paid  $40  a  month  ;  Somerville, 
South  Reading,  Reading,  Haverhill  and  Rochester  paid 
$35  a  month;  Medford,  $33.99;  Maiden,  Ballardvale, 
Durham  and  Salmon  Falls,  $30  ;  Melrose,  Plaistow,  East 
Kingston  and  South  Newmarket,  $20;  Bradford,  $16; 
and  Newton,  $13.  Thirty-seven  men  were  employed  at 
the  freight  house  in  Boston,  and  fourteen  at  freiglit 
houses  elsewhere  on  the  system,  laborers  receiving  no 
more  than  $1  a  day. 


18  THE  BOSTON   AND   MAINE   RAILROAD 

There  were  six  train  baggage  masters  at  $35  a  month  , 
five  depot  baggage  masters  at  $25  to  $35  a  month ;  four 
porters  at  stations,  ranging  from  $26  to  $30  a  month ; 
ten  watchmen  ranging  from  $26  to  $30  a  month  ; 
thirteen  switchmen,  ranging  from  $15  to  $33.33  a  month, 
the  highest  paid  man  being  at  Boston ;  seventeen  en- 
gineers, eleven  of  them  at  $60  a  month,  one  at  $50,  one 
at  $45,  and  three  at  $40  ;  fourteen  firemen,  eleven  of 
them  at  $30  a  month  and  three  at  $26  ;  fourteen  brake- 
men,  thirteen  at  $30  a  month  and  one  at  $26  ;  eight  gate- 
men,  paid  from  $26  to  $30  a  month  ;  thirty-one  woodmen, 
receiving  from  four  shillings  and  six  pence  to  eight  shil- 
lings a  day  (it  is  curious  to  note  that  for  several  years 
after  1849  the  Boston  and  Maine  continued  to  pay  some 
of  its  minor  employes  in  the  old-fashioned  New  England 
shillings  and  pence)  ;  sixty  machinists,  car  repairers  and 
blacksmiths  at  the  company's  shops  in  Lawrence  were 
paid  from  66  cents  to  $2.20  daily ;  two  roadmasters  re- 
ceived $750  a  year  each  ;  one  wood  agent,  who  attended 
to  the  purchase  of  all  the  fuel  for  the  locomotives,  was 
paid  $1,000  a  year,  and  the  master  of  transportation  got 
$900  per  annum.  The  superintendent,  who  practically 
managed  the  whole  road,  was  paid  $2,000  a  year ;  the 
president,  $2,000  ;  the  treasurer,  $1,500. 

In  1849  the  Boston  and  Maine  owned  thirty-five  passen- 
ger cars  appraised  at  $51,265,  and  sixteen  baggage  cars 
valued  at  $9,052.  The  locomotives  consisted  of  the 
"Andover,"  "Haverhill,"  "Rockingham,"  "Cocheco," 
"Augusta,"  "Dragon,"  "Portland,"  "Reading,"  "Maiden," 
"Goliah,"  "Antelope,"  "Bangor,"  "Massachusetts,"  "Nor- 
ris,"  "Lawrence,"  "Medford,"  "New  Hampshire," 
"Maine,"  and  Nos.  21,  22,  23,  24,  25,  26,  not  named, 
which,  with  their  tenders  and  other  appurtenances, 
were  valued  at  $121,050. 

Like  many  other  railroads  at  this  time,  the  Boston  and 
Maine  built  most  of  its  locomotives  and  cars  in  its  own 
shops  at  Lawrence,  as  the  committee  of  investigation 
found  that  by  so  doing  a  better  grade  of  rolling  stock  was 
produced  and  at  a  cheaper  price  than  it  could  be  obtained 
from  the  best  manufacturers.  Another  result  of  the  com- 
mittee of  investigation    was    the    resignation  of  Messrs. 


BY  FRANCIS   B.   C.   BRADLEE  19 

Thomas  West  and  Charles  Minot,  the  president  and  su- 
perintendent, and  the  election  of  Messrs.  John  Howe  and 
Thomas  L.  Williams  to  fill  their  places. 

In  1848  the  Massachusetts  Legislature  chartered  a  rail- 
road which  was  to  be  built  from  South  Danvers,  now 
Peabody,  to  South  Reading,  a  distance  of  eight  miles, 
there  to  connect  with  the  Boston  and  Maine.  By  using 
the  Salem  and  Lowell  Railroad  track  between  Peabody 
and  Salem,  the  new  road  afforded  another  means  of  com- 
munication between  Boston  and  Salem.  In  fact,  the 
South  Reading  Branch  Railroad,  as  it  was  called,  was 
initiated  largely  by  capitalists  of  the  latter  city ;  David 
Pingree  was  its  president,  and  D.  N.  Pickering,  superin- 
tendent. The  road  was  opened  to  the  public  August  31, 
1850,  using  the  Salem  and  Lowell  station  in  Salem.  As 
its  equipment  was  of  the  best  and  its  fares  lower  than 
the  Eastern,  it  did  not  take  long  for  the  travelling  public 
to  avail  themselves  of  the  new  line.  Its  competition 
proved  a  terrible  "thorn  in  the  side"  of  the  Eastern  Rail- 
road, and  during  1851  the  directors  of  the  latter  company 
managed  by  underhand  means  and  by  paying  an  exorbi- 
tant price,  fllO  a  share,  to  acquire  the  controlling  inter- 
est in  the  South  Reading  road.  At  its  next  annual  meet- 
ing the  independent  management  was  turned  out  and 
various  directors  and  officials  of  the  Eastern  were  installed 
in  their  places. 

Soon  after,  the  time-table  was  arranged  to  discourage 
travel  to  Boston  by  means  of  the  South  Reading  road 
and  to  keep  it  on  the  main  line  of  the  Eastern.  This 
little  episode  may  be  said  to  mark  the  beginning  of  nearly 
forty  years  of  bitter  warfare  between  the  Boston  and 
Maine  and  Eastern  Railroads.  The  latter  corporation 
accused  the  Boston  and  Maine  management  of  building  or 
fostering  branch  roads,  the  sole  object  of  which  was  to 
tap  traffic  from  their  road.  Be  that  as  it  may,  the  sui- 
cidal rivalry  led  to  an  expenditure  by  both  companies  of 
about  $16,000,000,  without  any  corresponding  benefit  to 
the  public.  In  the  early  1870's,  when  the  competition 
was  at  its  worst,  the  Boston  and  Maine  added  116,000,000 
to  its  debt,  while  the  Eastern  increased  its  obligations  to 
nearly  -f  10,000,000.     The  good  condition  of  the  Boston 


20  THE   BOSTON   AND   MAINE   RAILROAD 

and  Maine  and  its  superior  financial  management,  to 
which  may  be  added  its  exemption  from  official  dishon- 
esty and  corruption  which  bore  down  on  some  other  roads, 
enabled  it  to  endure  this  immense  burden  without  a  col- 
lapse, but  after  all  it  was  a  heavy  drain  and  one  which 
was  felt  in  later  times. 

The  Boston  and  Maine  was  particularly  fortunate  in  its 
route,  running  as  it  did  through  thrifty  places  just  re- 
mote enough  from  the  coast  not  to  have  the  competition 
of  water  freights,  which  drained  somewhat  from  the  prin- 
cipal stations  of  the  Eastern  road  ;  and  the  development 
of  its  local  business  was  immense,  under  generally  liberal 
management. 

For  some  time  previous  to  1846  the  citizens  of  New- 
buryport  had  harbored  a  grievance  against  the  Eastern 
Railroad,  and  at  last  a  plan  was  conceived  of  building  a 
railroad  that  should  connect  the  city  with  the  Boston  and 
Maine  road  at  Lawrence,  and  also  develop  transportation 
in  the  interior  of  Essex  County  through  Georgetown, 
Groveland  and  Haverhill.  The  promoters  of  the  new 
road  aimed  to  control  the  traffic  of  the  Merrimack  valley, 
and  it  was  hoped  that  Newburyport  thereby  would  regain 
in  part  her  earlier  importance  as  a  terminal  point  for 
trade.  A  steamboat  line  which  had  been  operated  on  the 
Merrimack  river  between  Haverhill  and  Newburyport  had 
proved  a  wise  investment,  and  by  means  of  the  proposed 
railroad  it  was  hoped  to  obtain  this  traffic,  and  at  the 
same  time  replace  the  heavy  teaming  between  Lawrence 
and  Newburyport  by  the  improved  methods  of  transporta- 
tion by  rail. 

The  town  of  Georgetown,  at  this  time,  was  interested 
extensively  in  the  manufacture  of  boots  and  shoes,  and 
as  the  railroad  was  to  supply  a  means  whereb}'^  the  raw 
material  and  the  finished  product  could  be  quickly  trans- 
ported, a  large  number  of  prominent  citizens  were  inter- 
ested inthe  enterprise.  It  was  largely  due  to  subscribers 
in  Georgetown  that  the  railroad  was  finally  completed. 
Some  of  the  early  meetings,  prior  to  the  incorporation  of 
the  railroad  company,  were  held  in  Georgetown,  and 
afterwards  many  of  the  annual  meetings  also  took  place 
in  Tenney's  hall  in  that  town. 


IW  &  MIDDLE  ROm 


^SI  V^EIEII^ 


GEORGETOWN,  TOPSFIEU)  AND  BANTERS^ 

Connecting  at  WEST  DAl^TVERS  with  Trains  to  and  from  SALEM. 

Trains  from  BRADFORD  and  GROYELAIVD  connect  witii  tliis  line 

at  GEORGETOWN  for  BOSTON. 

Depot  in  Boston,      -      Boston  and  Blaine  Depot,  Haymarket  Square. 

"        Bradford, At  HaverhiU  Bridge. 

*        Wewburyport,  ....         West  of  the  TunneL 

FALL  ABBANCEMENT. 

01  Mil  IFTER  NOHIIT,  OCTOBER  23, 1854. 


I'  s«  ym.  M  i«  s 

m^  m:  J9k.  ^%^  mi 

FOR  BOSTOir. 

from'  BOSTOir. 

NEWBURYPOBT, 

7.43,  11.00  JLM. 

1.43,  5.00  P.M. 

HO.STON,      .    .    S05A.M., 

12.00  X. 

,  3.00,  S.30  r.jf. 

BYFIELD     -    •    - 

7.57,  11.18 

1.57. 5.12             1 

W.  D.ANVERS,  .    8.45 

If.33 

3.33,6  08 

HAVER'L  BRIDGE, 

7.45,  11.00 

1.45,  5.00 

N.  DANVERS,  -    8J4 

12.41 

3.14,  6.18 

GROVELAND,  •     - 

7.50.  11.03 

I.SO,  5.U5 

"^OPSFIELD,     .    9.0S 

12.28 

3..5S,  C.3* 

GEORGETOWN,    - 

8.03,  11.18 

8.03,  5.18 

BOXFORD,     -    -    ai8 

1.08 

4.08,  6,39 

BOX  FORD,    -     -    . 

8.09,  11.23 

S.09,  5.23 

GEORGETOWN,    9.25 

1.15 

4.15,  6.46 

TOPSFIELD,      -    . 

8.18,  11.34 

a.lf,  5  34 

GROVELAND.  •    9.31 

1.21 

4.21,  6.52 

N.  DANVER8,  -    . 

8.33,  U  50 

2.33,  5.5» 

BYFIELD,      .    -    9.32 

].21 

4.21,  6.32 

W.  DANVERS,  -    - 

8.42.  11.58 

8.43.  6.0O 

HAV'L,  BRIDGE.    9.36 

1.26 

4.26,  6.57 

-ArriTe  at  BOSTON, 

0.19  12.40 

3.23,  «.40 

Ar.  ntNEWBP'T,    9.43 

1.33 

4.33,  7.04 

lUEWBURYPORT   AND   BRADFORD. 

TRAINS  LE.tVE  NKWBCRYPORT  FOR  BRADFORD  Rt  7.43  and  II.'K)  a.m.,  1.43  nnd  5.00  rji^ 
BRADFORD  FOR  NEUBURYPORT  at  8.J0  a.m.,  and  1.45,  3.!i5  nnd  6.20  p.m. 
"  Leaving  NEWBDRYPORT  at  7.J5  and  1100  a.m.,  and  5.00  p.m.,  and    KK.ADFORD  at  8.40  a.-m. 

3.43  and  0.20  p.m.,  connect  with  Trains  on  the  Boston  &  Me.  Railroad  to  and  fro:a  L.\WKE.\C£,  and  the  We»t 
and  North  ;   also,  n-ith  Trains  going  Eaat. 

GEORGETOWN  AND  HAVERHILL  BRIDGE. 

TRAINS  leave  GEORGETOWN  for  HAVERHILL  BRIDGE  at  805,  9.2-3,   11.18  am.  and  I.l'>,  8.03,  4.13, 

3.18  and  6.46  p.m. 

Leave  HAVERHILL  BRIDGE  for  GEORGETOWN  at  7.45,  8.25,  Il.OO  a.m.,  12.5.5,  1.+5,  3  50,  5.00,  6  20p.m. 

(}3»  Passengers  are  not  allowed  Baggage  above  $50  in  value,  or  89  lbs.  in  weight,  wllhont  extra  cbatige.     Far 
further  particulars,  see  Railway  Guide. 


GEORGETOWN.  OCTOBER  18,  1S54. 


C.  S.  TEJ^NEr,  Sup't. 


BY   FRANCIS   B.    C.   BRADLEE  21 

On  March  11,  1846,  the  Massachusetts  Legislature 
passed  an  act  establishing  the  Newbury  port  Railroad  Com- 
pany, the  incorporators  being  Dennis  Condry,  John  Huse, 
Enoch  S.  Williams,  John  Wood  and  Edward  S.  Moseley. 
They  were  given  the  right  to  construct  a  railroad  "from 
Newburyport  to  or  near  Georgetown  Corner,  .  .  .  be- 
ginning at  some  convenient  point  between  the  Newbury- 
port turnpike  and  the  present  Eastern  Railroad  depot  .  .  . 
thence  southeasterly  over  or  near  Common  Pasture  .  .  . 
to  a  point  near  the  head  of  the  Downfall  Road  .  .  . 
thence  continuing  southwesterly  crossing  Parker  River 
near  Pearson's  Mills,  in  Byfield,  thence  north  of  the 
Georgetown  road,  passing  near  Dole's  Mills  in  Georgetown 
at  or  near  a  point  of  land  of  Daniel  Pusey,  about  one- 
fourth  of  a  mile  northeast  of  Savory's  Hotel  in  said 
Georgetown."  The  capital  stock  was  to  be  2,000  shares 
of  $100  par  value.  The  organization  and  location  of  the 
road  was  to  be  effected  before  September  1,  1847,  and 
the  construction  was  to  be  completed  before  September  1, 
1849. 

Owing  to  hard  times  and  the  stringency  of  the  money 
market,  it  was  found  to  be  very  difficult  to  raise  sufficient 
capital  to  build  the  Newburyport  road,  and  in  January, 
1850,  it  was  reported  that  the  work  on  the  railroad  had 
been  "prosecuted  during  the  year  as  rapidly  as  the  means 
of  the  company  would  permit,  and  at  the  present  time 
the  whole  section  of  8  miles  and  179  rods  from  New- 
buryport to  Georgetown  is  in  such  a  state  of  forwardness 
that  a  few  weeks  of  favorable  weather  will  suffice  to 
place  it  in  running  order."  The  total  expenditures  to 
date  had  been  $66,504.66.  The  rails  on  this  road  weighed 
only  50  pounds  to  the  yard,  which  was  even  then  eight 
or  ten  pounds  lighter  than  the  rails  ordinarily  used  at 
that  period.  In  the  'Newburyport  Herald  for  May,  1850, 
is  found  the  first  notice  of  train  service  on  the  Newbury- 
port Railroad,  as  follows  : — 

On  and  after  Thursday,  May  23,  Passenger  and  Merchandise 
trains  leave  Georgetown  for  Nevrburyport  at  7^  A.  M.,  10|  A.  M., 
and  4|  P.  M.  Leave  Newburyport  for  Georgetown  at  9  A.  M.,  2 J 
P.  M.,  Q\  P.  M.  All  the  trains  will  stop  at  Pearson's  Mills  Village. 
On  Wednesday,  May  22,  the  stockholders  will  pass  over  the  road, 


22  THE   BOSTON   AND   MAINE   RAILROAD 

and  trains  for  their  accommodation  will  run  as  follows :  Leave 
Newbnryport  for  Georgetown,  10  A.  M.,  1  P.  M.,  3  P.  M.  and  5 
P.  M.  Leave  Georgetown  for  Newburyport,  12  M.,  2  P.  M.,  and  4 
P.  M.  Stockholders  can  receive  tickets  by  calling  on  Thomas 
Davis,  at  the  Railroad  office,  corner  Essex  and  State  Streets. 

For  the  privilege  of  using  the  Eastern  Railroad  station 
and  a  small  part  of  their  track  at  Newburyport,  the  New- 
buryport Company  paid  $2,350.  The  first  accident  on 
the  road  occurred  July  18,  1850,  when  a  train  was  thrown 
from  the  track  by  coming  in  contact  with  a  cow,  and  con- 
ductor Benjamin  Hilliard,  in  jumping  from  the  platform 
of  the  passenger  car,  was  struck  by  the  car  and  instantly 
killed.  As  fences  along  the  right  of  way  were  not  con- 
structed in  some  cases,  the  cows  in  feeding  wandered  on 
to  the  tracks,  and  it  was  no  uncommon  thing  to  strike 
two  or  three  of  the  animals  on  the  way  to  Newburyport 
from  Georgetown.  These  were  the  days  of  hand-brakes, 
applied  by  the  fireman  on  the  tender  and  by  the  brakeman 
on  the  passenger  cars,  one  short  sharp  whistle  from  the 
locomotive  being  the  signal  for  "brakes,"  and  as  these 
never  seem  to  have  worked  very  well,  the  train  collided 
with  the  cows,  even  though  they  were  noticed  on  the 
track  some  yards  ahead. 

It  may  be  said  that  the  Newburyport  Railroad  was  of 
the  distinctly  "one-horse"  variety  and  a  constant  source 
of  jokes.  The  slowness  of  the  road  was  a  byword,  and 
it  is  said  that  on  one  occasion  the  train  was  so  late  in 
arriving  at  Byfield  that  many  of  the  citizens  gathered  at 
the  station  to  ascertain  the  cause  of  its  tardiness.  Much 
was  their  surprise  when,  at  last,  conductor  Nathan  Carter 
was  seen  coming  up  the  track  with  a  halter  thrown  over 
the  smokestack  of  the  engine,  leading  in  the  train.  The 
finances  of  the  Newburyport  Railroad  were  in  such  an 
uncertain  state  that  all  its  locomotives  and  rolling  stock 
were  purchased  at  second  hand,  having  been  discarded  by 
other  roads.  Their  locomotives  consisted  of  the  "Med- 
ford"  and  "Rockingham,"  bought  from  the  Boston  and 
Maine,  the  "Cocheco"  and  the  "Bunker  Hill";  the  latter 
was  a  ten-ton  engine  built  in  1841,  and  acquired  from  the 
Fitchburg  road  ;  it  distinguished  itself  by  finally  blowing 
up  on    September  10,  1853,    and   killing  its  unfortunate 


BY   FRANCIS   B.    C.    BRADLEE  23 

fireman.  Before  the  road  from  Newburyport  to  George- 
town had  been  actually  finished,  a  public  meeting  was  held 
in  Bradford,  May  22,  1850,  "to  take  measures  in  aid  of 
extending  the  Newburyport  Railroad  from  Georgetown  to 
Bradford."  It  would  seem  that  the  latter  corporation,  in 
anticipation  of  this  event,  already  had  secured  permission 
from  the  Legislature  to  unite  with  the  Georgetown  Branch 
Railroad,  which  was  to  run  from  Bradford  to  Georgetown 
Corner,  and  had  been  chartered  March  11,  1844,  but  not 
constructed. 

Work  was  begun  on  the  new  extension  of  the  road  and 
the  construction  of  it  was  pushed  as  fast  as  the  very 
difficult  problem  of  financing  could  be  satisfactorily  solved. 
On  September  1,  1851,  the  roadbed  "had  been  completed 
from  Georgetown  to  Haverhill  bridge,"  but  was  not  in 
good  running  order  the  entire  distance  to  Bradford.  The 
fifteen  miles  from  the  Eastern  Railroad  station  in  New- 
buryport to  the  Boston  and  Maine  station  at  Bradford, 
bad  cost  about  $225,000,  or  "$15,000  a  mile  with  equip- 
ment complete."  This  was  believed  to  have  been  lower 
than  the  cost  of  any  other  road  in  New  England.  The 
money  market  had  been  tight,  which  forced  the  directors 
to  sacrifice  much  on  the  discount  on  the  sale  of  the  com- 
pany's notes,  and  the  land  damages,  which  amounted  to 
$25,000,  were  more  than  double  what  had  been  at  first 
anticipated.  On  September  15,  1851,  a  train  was  run 
•'from  the  bridge  to  Georgetown,"  to  accommodate  the 
stockholders  who  attended  the  annual  meeting,  it  being 
"the  first  time  the  passenger  cars  have  run  to  Haverhill," 
according  to  the  Newburyport  Gazette. 

While  the  road  was  opened  to  Bradford  for  public 
travel  on  September  22,  1851,  the  trains  did  not  run  reg- 
ularly until  the  latter  part  of  October.  A  portion  of  the 
roadbed  was  at  sub-grade  ;  the  depot  buildings  were  not 
completed ;  and  the  arrangements  which  the  directors  had 
been  able  to  effect  with  tlie  Boston  and  Maine  and  Eastern 
companies  at  the  termini  were  unsatisfactory  and  unfavor- 
able. At  this  time  the  running  expenses  of  the  road, 
including  salaries  of  the  superintendent  and  treasurer, 
fuel,  oil,  etc.,  engineers,  firemen,  conductors,  brakemen, 
switchmen,    ticket  masters,    road  master   and  three  men. 


24  THE   BOSTON   AND   MAINE   RAILROAD 

two  repair  hands,  sawing  wood,  etc.,  amounted  to  $37.59 
a  day. 

The  total  income  amounted  to  '$83.05  daily.  The  equip- 
ment of  the  Newburyport  Railroad  consisted  of  "Three 
Locomotive  Engines,  Three  Passenger  cars,  One  eight 
wheel  Baggage  Car,  one  four  wheel  Baggage  Car,  four 
eight  wheel  House  freight  cars,  two  four  wheel  House 
Freight  Cars,  Four  eight  wheel  Platform  Cars,  Two  four 
wheel  Platform  Cars,  Nine  Gravel  Cars,  Two  Hand  Cars, 
and  One  Iron  Car."  The  company's  entire  capital  when 
united  with  the  Georgetown  Branch  Railroad  was  #300,000 
but  only  il 31,000  was  paid  in,  while  the  total  cost 
of  construction  was  $255,613. 

It  was  not  long  after  the  road  had  been  completed  be- 
fore Haverhill  began  to  complain  because  all  the  freight 
for  that  city  had  to  be  teamed  across  the  bridge,  for  the 
right  to  extend  the  road  across  the  Merrimack  river  into 
Haverhill  was  not  granted  till  March  16,1855.  Naturally 
the  result  was  a  great  loss  of  freight  for  the  railroad. 
Shortly  before  this  more  trouble  was  occasioned  the  already 
sorely  burdened  Newburyport  Railroad  by  the  refusal  of 
the  Eastern  Railroad  to  let  them  share  the  use  of  their 
Newburyport  station.  They  accordingly  were  forced  to 
build  one  of  their  own,  situated  near  the  Mall  on  High 
street,  and  only  reached  by  crossing  the  Eastern  Railroad 
tracks.  After  the  consolidation  of  the  Eastern  and  Bos- 
ton and  Maine  roads  in  1890,  this  structure  was  changed 
to  a  freight  house,  and  is  still  used  as  such. 

On  May  7,  1851,  the  Danvers  and  Georgetown  Railroad 
Company  was  chartered  "  to  construct  and  maintain  a 
railroad,  commencing  at  some  convenient  point  in  George- 
town, thence  running  through  Rowley,  Ipswich,  Boxford, 
Topsfield,  Wenham,  or  any  of  the  said  towns,  to  the 
village  of  North  Danvers,  there  to  enter  upon  and  unite 
with  the  Essex  Railroad  at  some  convenient  point."  The 
capital  stock  was  to  be  $130,000.  At  the  annual  meeting 
of  the  Newburyport  Railroad,  held  in  September,  1851, 
at  Newburyport,  the  directors  "were  requested  ...  to 
petition  the  next  Legislature  for  authority  to  unite  the 
Newburyport  Railroad  Company  with  the  Danvers  and 
Georgetown,  .  .  .  provided  the  Danvers  and  Georgetown 
join  in  such  application." 


GEORGETOWN   RAILROAD   STATION,    ERECTED   IN    1850 
From  a  photograph  taken  about  I  865 


TOPSFIELO   RAILROAD   STATION,    ERECTED   IN    1854 
From  a  photograph  taken  about   I  872 


BY   FRANCIS   B.   C.    BRADLEE  25 

As  far  back  as  1845,  also,  an  aojitation  had  begun  for  a 
railroad  from  Danvers  to  the  main  line  of  the  Boston  and 
Maine  at  South  Reading,  now  Wakefield,  but  not  until 
March  15,  1852,  was  the  Danvers  Railroad  Company  in- 
corporated "with  power  to  construct  a  railroad  from  some 
convenient  point  on  the  line  of  the  Danvers  and  George- 
town road  in  North  Danvers,  thence  running  through  the 
towns  of  Reading,  Lynn  field,  and  South  Reading,  .  .  . 
to  unite  with  the  Boston  and  Maine  Railroad  ...  at 
some  convenient  point  in  South  Reading  ..."  The 
total  length  of  the  road  was  nine  miles,  and  the  capital 
authorized,  1100,000  ;  total  length  of  the  Danvers  and 
Georgetown  road,  twelve  miles.  The  Danvers  and  Dan- 
vers and  Georgetown  Railroads  were  given  power  on 
April  30,  1852,  to  form  a  corporate  union  under  the  name 
of  the  latter  road,  and  were  also  given  power  to  enter  on 
the  Newburyport  Railroad  at  Georgetown,  and  in  addition 
could  lease  their  roads  to  either  the  Boston  and  Maine  or 
Eastern  companies.  It  was  found,  however,  so  hard  to 
finance  the  construction  of  these  two  small  roads  that,  in 
1853,  the  directors  of  the  Danvers  company  applied  to 
the  management  of  the  Boston  and  Maine  for  help.  The 
Legislature  of  Massachusetts  had  but  a  short  time  before 
passed  a  bill  allowing  the  Danvers  road  to  receive  sub- 
scriptions to  its  stock  from  the  Boston  and  Maine  to  an 
amount  not  exceeding  $40,000.  After  much  hesitation, 
the  Boston  and  Maine  offered  to  take  a  lease  of  the  Dan- 
vers Railroad,  provided  an  agreement  could  be  made  with 
the  Danvers  and  Georgetown  and  Newburyport  for  the 
joint  operation  of  their  respective  railroads. 

This  arrangement  was  made,  and  on  May  30,  1853,  a 
lease  of  the  Danvers  to  the  Boston  and  Maine  was  exe- 
cuted for  one  hundred  yeais.  In  doing  this  the  manage- 
ment of  the  latter  road  was  influenced  largely  by  the  fact 


26  THE  BOSTON   AND   MAINE   RAILROAD 

tliat  it  thus  controlled  what  was  known  as  the  "middle 
route"  to  Newburyport,  which  could  be  used  offensively 
or  defensively  in  fighting  the  Eastern. 

While  the  Danvers  and  the  Danvers   and    Georgetown 
Railroads  were  opened    for    inspection    on  September  2, 
1854,  they  were  not  used  for  public  travel   until  October 
23  of  the  same  year.     The  Boston  Transcript  of  October 
24,  3  854,  says  :     "It  was  a  great  day  for  the  hard  work- 
ing citizens  of  several  towns    of  Essex   County  on  Mon- 
day, October  23,  when  a  new  route  between    Boston  and 
Newburyport  was  opened  to  the  public.     This  road  con- 
nects   with    the    Boston    and    Maine    at    South  Reading 
(Wakefield),  and  passes  through   Lynnfield,    Tapleyville, 
North  Danvers,   Topsfield,    Boxford,    Georgetown,   New- 
bury, and  Newburyport.     We    understand    that   a    large 
number  of  persons  from  Georgetown,  Boxford  and  Tops- 
field,  who  had  never  travelled  with  a   steam    horse,    ven- 
tured the  experiment  of  jumping  on  and  trying  him.  .  ." 
The  schedule  of  trains    was    as    follows :     Trains  left 
Newburyport  for  Boston   at  7.45  and  11  A.  M.,  1.45  and 
6  P.  M.     Returning,  they  left   Boston    for    Newburyport 
at  8.05  A.  M.  and  12  M.,    3    and    5.30    P.  M.     The  trip 
from  Boston   to    Newburyport    consumed    one  hour  and 
thirty-four  minutes,  and    it    was    accomplished  by  wood- 
burning  locomotives.     In  1858  a  saving   of  36  per  cent., 
or  $1,500  a  year,  was  accomplished  by  the  substitution  of 
coal  for  wood  as  fuel. 

After  the  Danvers  and  Georgetown  became  part  of  the 
Newburyport  Railroad  Company,  that  road's  credit  seems 
to  have  vanished  completely,  and  after  a  precarious  exist- 
ence of  a  few  years,  during  which  matters  reached  such  a 
pass  that  the  president  and  directors  wei"e  obliged  to  be- 
come personally  responsible  to  the  Boston  Locomotive 
Works  for  two  new  locomotives,  the  "Newburyport"  and 
the  "Yankee,"  the  road  was  leased  to  the  Boston  and 
Maine  for  one  hundred  years  from  February  21,  1860. 
The  latter  company  assumed  the  responsibility  for  the 
Newburyport  Railroad's  bonded  debt,  amounting  to 
$400,000,  its  stock  being  practically  worthless. 


BRANCH  RAILRBAB. 

ARRANGEMENT    COSmENCING 

MOIAY,  OCTOBER  16.  M. 

PMsenger   Trains   will   leave    WEST  LYNN    for    BOSTON    &    MAINE  RAIL 

ROAD  STATION,  in  Haymarket    Square,    througii   Saugus,    Cliftondale, 

East  Maiden,  Maplewood,  Maldeu  Center,  and  Edgeworth,  as  follows: 

TRAINS  FOR  BOSTON-LEAVE 

L.ynn  -     ...  T,30  »,35  1,45  4,40 

i:a§tSaugu§     -  7,34  9,39  1,48  4,44 

Saugu§   Center  7,38  9,43  1,52  4,49 

Cliftondale-    -  7,43  9,48  1,57  4,54 

Ea§t  Maiden    -  7,47  9,52  2,00  4,57 

Maplewood       -  7,50  9,55  2,04  5,00 

Maiden  Center  7,54  10,00  2,09  5,05 

£dge  worth-    -  7,58  10,03  2,13  5,08 

TRAINS  FROM  BOSTON -LEAVE 

BOSTON 8,30  12,00  3,00  6.00 

EDGEWORTH 8,40  12,10  3,10  6,10 

MALDEN  CENTER  ....  8,43  12,13  3,13  6,13 

MAPLEWOOD 8,48  12,18  3,18  6,18 

EAST  MALDEN 8,53  18,23  3,23  6,23 

CLIFTONDALE 8,58  12,28  3,28  6,28 

SAUGUS  CENTER    ....  9,02  12,32  3,32  6,32 

EAST  8AUGU8 9,06  12,36  3,36  6,36 

The  Train  on  Saturdays, leaving  Lynn  at  8  P.M.,  &  Boston  at  10  P.M.,  will  be  discontinued. 

AlfDR£WS  BR£ED,  Sunt. 
Lynn,  Oot.  lO,  1854. 


BY    FRANCIS    B.   C.    BRADLBB  27 

For  a  time  the  Boston  and  Maine  and  Eastern  compa- 
nies entered  into  a  traffic  agreement  to  divide  the  New- 
buryport  freight  and  passenger  business,  but  in  a  few  years 
they,  as  usual,  fell  out,  and  several  years  of  sharp  com- 
petition ensued,  so  that  in  1867  the  Boston  and  Maine 
reduced  its  fare  for  passengers  between  Newburyport  and 
Boston  to  fifty  cents,  much  below  the  regular  rates.  On 
September  7,  1905,  the  Newburyport  Railroad  Company 
voted  to  pay  three  dollars  a  share  for  all  outstanding 
stock,  and  on  October  11,  1905,  the  Danvers  Railroad 
took  the  same  action.  The  president,  treasurer  and  di- 
rectors of  these  companies  at  that  time  were  the  officers 
of  the  Boston  and  Maine  Railroad.  The  latter  corpora- 
tion was,  on  September  28, 1906,  authorized  to  issue  $306,- 
000,  20-year,  4  per  cent,  bonds  to  acquire  title  to  the 
Newburyport  Railroad,  and  also  to  issue  $152,000  4  per 
cent.  20-year  bonds  to  acquire  title  to  the  Danvers  Rail- 
road. These  roads  accordingly  passed  out  of  existence 
forever. 

In  1848  the  Massachusetts  Legislature  had  chartered 
the  Saugus  Branch  Railroad  Company,  with  leave  to  build 
a  railroad  from  Lynn  Common  through  Saugus  to  Maiden, 
a  distance  of  about  ten  miles,  connecting  at  the  latter 
place  with  the  main  road  of  the  Boston  and  Maine.  The 
whole  project  was  in  reality  nothing  but  an  attempt  on 
the  part  of  the  Boston  and  Maine  to  tap  some  of  the 
Eastern  Railroad's  Lynn  business. 

Work  on  the  new  line  was  begun  in  1850,  and  dragged 
along  slowly  for  lack  of  funds,  but  finally,  on  F'ebruary  1, 
1853,  the  Saugus  branch  was  opened  for  travel  with  four 
trains  each  way  daily.  Andrews  Breed  of  Lynn  was 
guperintendent,  and,  in  the  beginning,  the  only  interme- 
diate stations  were  East  Saugus,  Saugus,  Cliftondale,  East 
Maiden,  now  Linden,  and  Maplewood.  In  the  meantime, 
however,  the  ever-watchful  Eastern  had  managed  to  se- 
cure the  controlling  interest  in  the  Saugus  Branch  Com- 
pany, and  soon  began  to  complain  that  this  branch,  as 
operated,  which  then  did  not  join  the  main  line  of 
the  Eastern  at  West  Lynn,  benefitted  no  one  but  their 
bitter  enemy,  the  Boston  and  Maine,  as  they  were  forced 


28  THE    BOSTON    AND   MAINE   EAILROAD 

to  keep  up  separate  rolling  stock,  which  could  not  by  any 
means  be  of  use  to  them  on  other  parts  of  their  system. 

Accordingly  the  Eastern  Railroad  petitioned  the  Legis- 
lature for  permission  to  discontinue  the  connection  of  the 
branch  with  the  Boston  and  Maine  at  Maiden,  and  instead 
extend  it  to  join  their  main  line  at  South  Maiden  (now 
Everett)  Junction,  and  also  extend  it  at  its  further  end 
to  connect  with  their  main  line  at  West  Lynn.  This 
would  give  them  a  "loop  line"  between  Boston  and  Lynn 
and  enable  some  of  the  main  line  trains  to  be  run  that 
way.  The  Legislature  gave  the  required  permission,  and 
the  new  connections  were  made  in  1855,  but  traces  of 
the  old  original  roadbed  can  be  clearly  seen  at  Maiden. 
This  was  long  before  the  days  of  the  trolley  cars,  or  even 
the  horse  cars,  and  it  must  be  remembered  that  these 
suburban  branch  roads  near  Boston  were  then  of  great 
financial  importance  as  "feeders"  to  the  trunk  lines. 

In  view  of  the  long  continued  warfare  between  the 
Boston  and  Maine  and  Eastern  companies,  it  is  strange 
to  find  them,  in  1853,  entering  into  an  amicable  part-own- 
ership of  the  steamer  "Daniel  Webster."  This  fine,  new, 
side-wheel  boat  of  900  tons  was  built  at  New  York  to 
run  between  Portland,  Rockland,  Penobscot  river  landings 
and  Bangor.  The  "steamboat  trains"  to  connect  with  her 
were  run  by  both  roads.  Direct  rail  communication  be- 
tween Boston  and  Bangor  was  not  made  until  1857,  and 
the  "Railroad  line,"  as  the  service  outlined  above  was 
called,  always  was  well  patronized,  resulting  in  large  divi- 
dends for  the  "Daniel  Webster." 

The  Eastern  was  not  the  only  road  against  which  the 
Boston  and  Maine  adopted  aggressive  measures.  In  July, 
1851,  a  "New  Route"  between  Boston  and  Lowell  was 
advertised  by  the  Boston  and  Maine,  which  was  arranged 
to  use  the  latter's  line  to  Wilmington  Junction,  thence 
the  Salem  and  Lowell  road,  which  was  then  an  inde- 
pendent company,  to  Lowell.  One  gains  the  impression 
from  the  advertisement  that  the  trains  were  through 
trains,  without  change  of  either  cars  or  engines,  seem- 
ingly an  attempt  to  divert  traffic  from  the  rich  Boston 
and  Lowell    Railroad,  then    at    the    height    of  its  glory. 


;-L 


BY  FRANCIS   B.   C.   BRADLEE  29 

The  Lowell  management  promptly  sued  the  Boston  and 
Maine  for  infringement  of  the  special  rights  secured  by 
their  charter,  but  in  spite  of  the  eloquence  of  Rufus 
Clioate,  they  got  very  little  satisfaction,  as  public  senti- 
ment was  then  strongly  in  favor  of  as  much  railroad 
competition  as  possible. 

Referring  once  more  to  the  Medford  branch,  previously 
mentioned,  an  article  in  the  Medford  Historical  Register 
for  April,  1914,  by  Moses  W.  Mann  and  others,  contains 
so  much  interesting  matter  that  it  has  been  thought  well 
to  reproduce  a  portion  of  it,  as  follows  : — 

This  railroad  was  chartered  May  7,  1845,  on  petition  of  James  O. 
Curtis  and  others.  In  town  meeting  of  June  22,  1845,  the  petition 
was  endorsed  by  vote,  and  another  vote  instructed  the  selectmen  to 
appear  before  the  Legislature  and  look  after  the  town's  interests. 
.  .  .  When  the  Medford  Branch  was  projected  .  .  .  Medford  had 
easy  access  to  Boston,  with  its  own  terminal  at  Medford  square, 
then  called  the  market  place.  It  would  have  been  better  if  the 
committee  had  looked  more  clearly  after  the  interests  of  the  town 
than  it  did,  and  not  have  permitted  a  grade  crossing  of  old  Ship 
street.  Of  the  Branch,  Brooks'  History  says,  "It  was  readily  fin- 
ished and  proves  to  be  a  productive  and  convenient  road," — and  it 
was  in  its  infantile  days.  At  the  present  time  [1920]  it  is  a  prob- 
lem to  the  managers  and  a  small  factor  in  passenger  transit. 

Describing  the  Medford  station,  which  still  does  duty, 
Mr.  Mann  goes  on  to  say : — 

Passengers  passed  through  the  depot  into  the  train  shed  that 
housed  two  cars;  extra  cars  stood  outside.  The  ticket  office  had  a 
window  in  the  main  building  and  in  the  shed  also.  There  were 
three  docks  from  the  river  to  Ship  street.  The  railroad  partially 
closed  two  of  them.  Crossing  Ship  street,  it  had  a  fairly  clear 
route  to  the  main  line,  running  under  bridges  at  Cross  and  Park 
streets.  At  Park  street  a  locomotive  tank  was  supplied  with  water 
from  an  ordinary  hand  pump  mounted  on  a  platform.  Spring  street 
and  Glenwood  were  not  on  the  map  in  1845-6-7.  One  old  house  was 
at  the  foot  of  a  lane  near  the  present  crossing.  The  land  farther 
down  was  a  swamp  and  salt  marsh.  The  road  was  single  tracked; 
engine  built  at  Lowell,  weighed  about  eleven  tons  and  was  without 
a  cab ;  cars  to  correspond.  .  .  . 


80  THE   BOSTON   AND   MAINE   RAILROAD 

Engineers.  Conductors. 

Joseph  Seavy,  John  F.  Sanborn, 

Robert  Gregg,  Ralph  Smith, 

James  B.  Rice,  William  Crook, 

George  Folsom.  Edward  Weymouth, 

John  F.  Sanborn.  Albert  Hamilton. 

John  F.  Sanborn  was  conductor  a  short  time  and  then  station 
agent  at  South  Reading;  .  .  .  later  was  engineer  on  the  Medford 
Branch  until  the  railroad  [engineers']  strike  in  1877,  then  to  New 
York  Elevated  [Railroad],  where  he  died  about  1880.  Mr.  Sanborn 
will  be  remembered  as  the  engineer  who,  feeling  bound  by  his 
membership  in  the  Brotherhood  of  [Locomotive]  Engineers,  left  his 
engine  when  the  strike  was  ordered.  He,  however,  ran  it  into  the 
engine  house  and  left  it  in  proper  order  and  safe  condition ;  this  in 
contrast  to  some  others.  The  strike  was  unsuccessful,  and  later  a 
company  of  Medford  citizens  asked  for  his  reinstatement.  The 
managers  bore  testimony  to  his  previous  excellent  service,  but 
firmly  declined,  saying,  "The  men  who  served  us  in  our  need,  at 
the  risk  of  their  lives  [meaning  more  than  ordinary  railroad  risk], 
cannot  be  displaced  to  make  room  for  any  who  deserted  us."  .  .  . 

The  original  locomotive  on  the  Medford  branch  was 
named,  appropriately,  the  "Medford,"  and  the  article  in 
the  Medford  Historical  Register  says  : — 

After  it,  came  the  engine  '«Cocheco,"  built  at  Lowell,  on  the 
Branch  a  long  time;  weight,  twelve  tons.  And  later,  and  for  many 
years,  the  engine  "Camilla,"  that  weighed  twenty  tons  and  was 
built  in  Boston.  We  fancy  that  Mr.  Crook,  the  conductor,  with  his 
hat,  dickey  and  resplendent  badge,  would  create  a  sensation  on  the 
Medford  Branch  today.  .  .  .  We  recall  that  the  "flying  switch," 
[just  before  entering  the  Boston  station  the  locomotives  were  un- 
coupled from  their  trains  and  the  cars  rolled  into  the  terminal  on 
their  own  momentum  and  controlled  by  the  hand  brakes],  was  dis- 
continued at  terminals  at  the  time  of  the  strike  [1877]  as  a  safety 
measure,  and  trains  since  then  have  been  "pulled  in."  .  .  .  The 
engine  •'Camilla"  seems  to  have  inspired  a  former  Medford  boy  to 
poetic  flight,  as  appears  in  these  verses: — 


BY    FRANCIS   B.    C.    BRADLEE  81 

CAMILLA,  30. 

In  the  golden  days  of  youth, 

Of  which  many  of  us  know 
Who  lived  in  old  town  Medford 

Some  three  decades  ago, 
There  was  a  steed  attractive 

To  the  youthful  minds  aglow, 
'Twas  the  iron  horse  "Camilla" 

Of  thirty  years  ago. 

This  creature,  almost  human, 

Was  astir  from  morn  till  night; 
She'd  take  the  road  at  six-twenty, 

And  till  dark  pursue  her  flight; 
Was  waited  for  by  hundreds. 

And  seldom  ever  slow — 
That  bright,  old,  sleek  "Camilla" 

Of  thirty  years  ago. 

The  bell  upon  the  depot, 

Which  is  never  heard  today, 
Would  call  the  many  people 

Who  wished  to  go  away; 
But  there  would  ring  a  sweeter  one 

As  through  Park  Street  she'd  go, 
'Twas  that  of  dear  "Camilla" 

Of  thirty  years  ago. 

We'd  hear  her  on  the  crossing 

And  coming  round  the  curve; 
She'd  always  make  the  "fly-switch" 

With  very  steady  nerve. 
And  over  Mystic  River, 

Where  tide  would  ebb  and  flow, 
She'd  make  the  drawbridge  quiver 

Some  thirty  years  ago. 

The  pride  of  all  the  round-house, 

But  especially  of  John, 
Whose  full  name  was  John  Sanborn, 

A  name  now  so  well  known. 
Though  not  the  superintendent, 

He  was  without  a  foe, 
And  ran  this  old  "Camilla" 

Just  thirty  years  ago. 


32  THE    BOSTON    AND    MAINE    RAILROAD 

We  loved  our  old  "Camilla," 

We  boys  and  girls  as  well; 
We  loved  to  ride  behind  her 

And  listen  to  her  bell. 
That  sound  was  one  of  welcome 

Where'er  we  wished  to  go, 
'Twas  our  young  pride  "Camilla" 

Of  thirty  years  ago. 

'Twas  when  Conductor  Hamilton 

Would  wave  his  hand,  she'd  start, 
And  through  the  bridge  and  down  the  track 

She'd  travel  like  a  dart. 
Would  fly  her  way  to  Wellington; 

I'd  like  to  have  you  know 
That  none  could  beat  "Camilla" 

Of  thirty  years  ago. 

And  on  the  double  track 

She  was  always  found  in  line; 
Would  reach  her  place  in  Boston 

In  twenty  minutes'  time. 
But  then  the  cars  were  smaller 

And  "links  and  pins"  to  go, 
And  air  brakes  unfamiliar, 

Some  thirty  years  ago. 

But  things  since  then  have  changed, 

And  also  numbers  too. 
And  engine  names  have  gone, 

While  many  men  are  through 
Who  used  to  work  and  wonder 

And  travel  to  and  fro 
Behind  dear,  passed  "Camilla" 

Of  thirty  years  ago. 

As  boys  and  girls  we  are  no  more. 

As  in  the  days  gone  by, 
We  have  grown  and  scattered, 

And  some  of  us  lie 
Awaiting  the  train — of  angels — 

Heaven's  bright  call,  and  lo! 
The  "reward"  long  promised 

Of  the  golden  years  ago. 

— Charles  E.  Preston. 
New  York  City. 


-n    o 

o      H 
3     I 


BY   FRANCIS    B.    C.    BKADLEE  33 

The  "Camilla"  was  an  "insider,"  i.  e.,  the  steam  cylinders  were 
inside  the  space  between  the  forward  trucks.  The  power  was  ex- 
erted upon  the  cranked  axle  of  the  forward  driving  wheels,  a  type 
of  locomotive  now  rare. 

Soon  after  the  "Camilla's"  retirement  three  new  engines  were 
put  in  service,  named  "Medford,"  "Mystic"  and  "Cradock,"  the 
latter  larger  than  the  others.  They  were  outside  connection  and 
"double  enders,"  having  head-light  and  "cow-catcher"  at  the  end 
of  the  tank,  this  low  enough  to  allow  the  engineer  view  of  the  track 
as  tlie  backward  run  was  made.  These  did  away  with  tlie  turn- 
table at  the  engine  house.  The  turning  around  of  the  engine  was 
always  of  interest  to  the  boys  of  Medford  as  elsewhere. 

The  names  and  ornamental  brass  have  gone,  but  the  "double- 
enders"  are  still  in  commission  on  the  Branch.  Another  thing 
gone  is  the  bell  on  the  roof.  It  became  cracked  and  went  to  the 
railroad  "graveyard."  Its  ringing  was  a  public  convenience  missed 
by  many.  The  station  master  would  deal  out  his  tickets  and  make 
change  with  one  hand  and  pull  the  bell-rope  with  the  other,  and 
experienced  patrons  and  listeners  knew  by  tlie  sound  of  the  bell 
how  brisk  the  last  minute's  patronage  was.  A  time  card,  probably 
the  earliest  issued,  October  4,  1817,  announces  trains: 

From  Medford,  7,  8  1/4  A.  M.,  1  1/2,  3  1/2  and  5  P.  M. 

From  Boston,  7  1/2  A.  M.,  12  M.,  2  1/4,  4  1/2  and  6  P.  M. 

Saturday  evening,  from  Medford,  6  1/2  P.  M.;  from  Boston, 
9  P.  M. 

Fare,  12  cents. 

There  was  a  time  when  it  seemed  probable  that  the  Medford  sta- 
tion would  become  a  way-station  by  the  building  of  an  extension  to 
Stoneham,  but  the  project  failed  to  materialize,  and  a  terminal  it 
has  remained. 

From  the  annual  report  of  the  Boston  and  Maine  for 
1851  is  learned  the  interesting  fact  that  although  rail- 
roading was  then  in  its  infancy  and  a  furious  competition 
quite  the  order  of  the  day,  through  tickets  were  sold  at 
its  Boston  station  for  131  stations  on  21  different  rail- 
roads, viz.,  to  the  Kennebec,  Penobscot  and  Calais  at  the 
East,  and  to  St.  Johnsbury,  Burlington,  Ogdensburg, 
Niagara  Falls,  Buffalo,  Michigan  and  Chicago  at  the 
North  and  West ;  also  to  four  lines  of  steamers.  It 
would  seem,  too,  that  the  Boston  and  Maine  was  the 
only  road  wliich  sold  tickets  for  all  the  five  different 
routes  to  the  White  Mountains. 


34  THE  BOSTON   AND   MAINE  RAILROAD 

A  short  description  of  the  practical  management  of  the 
trains  in  the  early  days  may  not  be  out  of  place  here. 
Through  the  kindness  of  Mr.  William  Merritt  of  Somer- 
ville,  Mass.,  formerly  superintendent  of  the  Western 
Division  of  the  Boston  and  Maine  Railroad,  it  has  been 
possible  to  reproduce  in  fac-simile  an  exceedingly  rare 
"Boston  and  Maine  Time  Table  and  Rules  for  Running 
Trains"  for  1845,  the  same  year  in  which  the  road 
reached  Boston  on  its  own  tracks.  The  author  is  also 
largely  indebted  to  Mr.  Merritt  for  much  valuable  infor- 
mation pertaining  to  early  days,  which  it  would  have 
been  hard,  not  to  say  impossible,  to  obtain  in  any  other 
way.  Many  of  the  early  operating  rules  read  rather 
quaintly  to  us  today,  but  they  show  grasp  of  the  impor- 
tant principles,  and,  without  boasting,  it  may  be  said  that 
in  many  important  regulations  the  Boston  and  Maine  was 
far  ahead  of  other  railroads. 

For  example,  the  "flagging  rule,"  probably  the  most 
important  of  all,  and  today  more  strictly  insisted  upon 
than  any  other,  we  find  in  full  force  as  early  as  1845. 
There  is  no  specific  mention  of  it  in  the  regulations  of  the 
Eastern  Railroad,  the  Boston  and  Maine's  principal  com- 
petitor, until  1859.  By  1853,  the  time-table  and  rules  of 
the  Boston  and  Maine  had  increased  from  four  small  printed 
pages  to  a  pamphlet  of  sixteen  good-sized  pages.  Thomas 
S.  Williams  was  the  superintendent,  and  there  were  then 
27  daily  trains  in  each  direction,  three  being  freights  and 
the  remainder  passenger  trains.  Through  trains  for  the 
North  and  Portland  left  Boston  at  8.40  A.  M.,  1.15,  6.10 
and  8  P.  M.,  the  last  being  the  "steamboat  train."  There 
were  six  trains  each  way  on  the  Medford  branch  and  a 
''theatre  train"  on  the  main  road  as  far  as  Reading  on 
Thursdays  only.  The  outward  trains  had  the  low  num- 
bers and  the  inward  trains  the  high  numbers,  this  being 
the  universal  practice  on  all  railroads  at  that  time. 
Branch  trains  had  no  numbers,  and  freight  trains  were 
designated  as  "freight  train  Number  1,"  etc. 

On  Thursday  afternoon,  January  6,  1853,  one  of  the 
worst  accidents  that  ever  befell  the  Boston  and  Maine 
Railroad  occurred,  in  which  Benjamin  Pierce,  the  young 


BY   FRANCIS   B.    C.    BRADLEE  35 

son  and  only  surviving  child  of  Franklin  Pierce,  then 
President-elect  of  the  United  States,  was  instantly  killed. 
The  train  left  Boston  at  12.15  o'clock  P.  M.,  and  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Pierce,  with  the  boy,  boarded  it  upon  its  arrival  in 
Andover,  Mass.,  where  they  had  spent  the  preceding  night 
at  the  home  of  Mr.  Pierce's  brother-in-law,  Mr.  John 
Aiken.  The  boy  had  been  visiting  there  several  weeks, 
and  they  were  starting  on  the  return  trip  to  their  home 
in  Concord,  N.  H.  When  between  two  and  three  miles 
from  the  town  of  Andover  the  train  was  derailed  by  the 
breaking  of  the  forward  axle  of  the  tender  on  the  left 
side.  The  train  happened  to  be  on  a  slight  curve  and 
along  a  high  embankment  built  up  largely  of  rubble- 
stone.  The  shock  threw  the  cars  from  the  track,  some  of 
them  falling  down  the  embankment.  The  President  and 
his  wife  were  substantially  unhurt,  but  the  son,  who  was 
standing,  looking  out  of  the  window,  was  killed.  About 
half  a  dozen  others  were  killed  and  many  were  injured, 
nearly  all  of  the  victims  belonging  in  Lawrence. 

Mrs.  Pierce,  who  was  an  invalid,  never  recovered  from 
the  shock  and  srief,  which  is  said  to  have  hastened  her 
death  a  few  years  later.  Naturally  the  railroad  company 
was  sued  by  many  of  those  injured,  but  Mrs.  Pierce,  who 
was  very  pious,  believed  the  accident  to  have  been  a  vis- 
itation of  Providence  to  take  the  son  away  from  the 
President,  that  he  might  be  better  prepared  to  devote 
himself  wholly  to  the  duties  of  his  great  office.  Not 
only  did  she  decline  to  sue,  but  induced  her  husband  to 
have  retained  General  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  then  at  the 
height  of  his  legal  fame,  to  defend  the  Boston  and  Maine 
Railroad.  The  negligence  relied  on  in  the  evidence  was 
that  the  axle,  which  broke  at  the  journal, — that  is,  at  the 
line  inside  of  the  box  in  which  the  axle  runs,  and  between 
it  and  the  wheel, — had  been  cracked  for  a  very  long  time. 
The  crack  had  opened  entirely  around  the  axle,  which  was 
two  and  a  half  inches  in  diameter,  and  the  wheel  had 
been  wabbling  backward  and  foi'ward  on  that  crack  until 
the  faces  of  the  iron  in  the  axle  had  all  been  worn  and 
pointed,   yet  not  absolutely  smooth.     A    portion  a  little 


36  THE   BOSTON   AND    MAINE   RAILROAD 

less  than  an  inch  in  diameter    in    the    centre    of  the  axle 
alone  held  it  at  the  moment  when  it  broke. 

As  soon  as  General  Butler  had  the  opportunity,  he 
went  to  the  repair  shop  to  look  at  the  broken  axle.  This 
case  was  for  many  years  considered  a  very  celebrated  one, 
so  that  it  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  show  General 
Butler's  method  of  defence,  quoted  from  his  "Book :" — 

I  saw  that  it  [the  axle]  was  of  fine  iron  or  it  would  not  have  held  as 
long  as  it  did.  I  examined  particularly  the  man  detailed  to  inspect 
axles  by  tapping  them  with  a  hammer.  .  .  .  lie  assured  me  with 
great  positiveness  that  he  had  struck  the  axle  twice,  but  found  no 
signs  of  a  crack.  I  did  not  believe  much  in  that,  because,  in  the  first 
place,I  doubted  if  it  would  show  by  the  sound  whether  it  was  cracked 
and  I  also  thought  he  would  say  wliat  he  did  say  whether  he  had 
heard  it  or  not.  I  then  caused  an  axle  of  the  same  size  and  of  the 
same  iron  to  be  broken  square  off  by  hydraulic  pressure,  the  ends 
showing  the  same  grain  of  iron  as  was  shown  in  the  centre  of  the 
one  broken  in  the  accident.  I  had  a  piece  of  this  newly  broken  axle 
put  solidly  in  a  vise.  I  then  asked  a  skilled  mechanic  to  take  a 
fourteen-pound  hammer  used  for  rivetting  large  rivets,  and  with 
such  blows  as  he  would  use  in  heading  a  rivet,  keeping  an  account 
of  them  accurately,  to  make  the  broken  end  of  this  axle  as  nearly 
an  exact  fac-simile  as  possible  of  the  one  broken  under  the  tender. 
.  .  .  Next,  I  interviewed  the  engineer  and  fireman  of  the  train, 
and  asked  them  if  anything  to  attract  their  attention  had  happened 
to  the  train  after  it  left  Boston.  They  said  there  had  not  until 
they  got  to  Andover,  but  in  passing  the  street  at  Andover  they 
struck  a  very  severe  blow  on  a  frog,  which  afterwards  was  found 
to  have  been  misplaced,  and  although  they  slowed  up  the  speed  of 
the  train,  they  could  see  no  evil  effects  from  this,  and  therefore 
went  on  until  the  time  of  the  accident,  when  suddenly  the  axle 
broke  and  the  train  was  derailed. 

They  said  on  the  next  morning  they  went  down  to  this  spot  where 
they  felt  the  shock  and  found  the  frog  was  very  much  bruised  by 
something  having  struck  it,  and  upon  inquiry  they  had  learned  that 
a  heavy  load  of  stone  had  passed  over  the  upper  portion  of  the 
frog  and  displaced  it  so  as  to  push  the  end  of  it  away  from  the  line 
of  the  track  on  which  the  train  was  running  at  the  time  of  the  ac- 
cident. 

I  had  a  very  careful  measurement  made  of  the  distance  between 
the  frog  and  the  place  of  the  derailment  of  the  train.  The  fireman 
said  that  he  was  on  the  tender  throwing  down  wood  at  the  time  of 


BY   FRANCIS   B.    C.    BRADLEE  37 

the  blow,  and  that  apparently  it  was  very  much  heavier  on  the  ten- 
der than  it  was  on  the  engine.  Assuming  that  the  axle  was  cracked 
back  there  at  the  frog,  and  that  the  crack  opened  and  closed  at 
least  once  with  every  revolution  of  the  wheel,  by  taking  the  cir- 
cumference of  the  wheel  I  was  able  to  calculate  that  the  crack 
would  open  and  close  more  times  in  running  the  distance  than  it 
took  blows  of  the  hammer  to  smooth  the  end  of  the  axle  experi- 
mented upon,  provided  the  weight  of  the  tender  was  as  effective 
only  as  the  blow  of  the  hammer.  The  prosecution  evidently  had 
not  reflected  upon  these  circumstances,  if  they  knew  of  them. 
They  put  on  the  stand  a  very  honest,  reliable  and  competent  rail- 
road machinist,  from  the  Boston  and  Providence  Railroad.  .  .  . 
They  showed  him  the  axle  and  asked  him  to  explain  to  the  jury 
how  it  broke.  He  said  in  substance  that  a  crack  had  been  started 
around  the  axle  in  the  line  made  by  the  tool  in  turning  out  the 
journal;  that  after  it  was  cracked,  as  the  wheel  revolved,  the  pres- 
sure was  brought  upon  every  part  of  that  crack  as  the  surfaces 
separated  by  the  crack  were  brought  together;  and  that  pressure 
would  tend  to  wear  the  surface  of  the  iron  in  the  crack  until  it  was 
given  the  appearance  shown  in  the  axle.  ,  .  .  He  supposed  that  it 
broke  at  the  moment  that  it  did  because  of  some  shock  in  turning 
the  curve.  He  was  asked  how  far  the  wheel  would  have  run  in 
order  to  have  the  broken  face  worn  down  as  much  as  it  was.  .  ,  . 
He  thought  that  it  might  have  run  for  three  months  to  make  the 
axle  look  as  it  was;  how  much  more  he  could  not  say,  and  it  might 
be  considerably  less,  but  he  thought  not  much. 

Upon  cross-examination  I  presented  him  with  my  fac-simile  of 
the  axle  and  asked  him  what  difference,  if  any,  he  could  see  be- 
tween it  and  the  one  broken  in  the  accident.  He  looked  at  them 
very  carefully  and  said  he  saw  no  special  difference.  I  asked  him 
if  my  fac-simile  could  be  made  by  ordinary  blows  with  a  riveting 
hammer  of  fourteen  pounds  weight.     He  said  he  thought  it  might. 

"Well,"  said  I,  "would  the  weight  of  the  tender,  as  the  wheel 
revolved,  make  an  impact  as  heavy  as  an  ordinary  blow  of  such  a 
hammer?" 

"When  the  crack  first  started,"  he  said,  "it  might  not,  but  sub- 
sequently and  especially  towards  the  last  it  would  be  very  much 
heavier,  because  the  crack  then  would  have  got  so  far  open  as  to 
give  an  actual  blow  when  it  closed." 

"Here,"  I  said,  "is  another  piece  of  axle  broken  short  off.  Will 
you,  if  I  will  pay  you  for  your  time  and  trouble  as  I  ought  tn,  after 
you  leave  the  stand,  take  this  to  a  neighboring  machine  shop  and 
put  it  in  a  vise,  and  see  how  long  it  will  take  you   to  make  this  last 


38  THE   BOSTON    AND    MAINE    JIAILROAD 

piece  of  axle  resemble  as  nearly  as  possible  the  broken  one  of  the 
tender?" 

"Yes,  if  it  won't  take  me  too  long,"  said  he,  very  good-na- 
turedly. 

"I  hope  it  won't  keep  you  too  long,"  I  said,  "but  I  want  you  to 
keep  an  account  of  the  blows  that  you  strike,  and  also  keep  an 
account  of  the  time,  and  in  the  morning  I  will  finish  your  cross- 
examination." 

When  he  came  in  the  morning  he  brought  in  his  work,  and  he 
had  made  rather  a  better  fac-simile  than  mine.  I  asked  him  the 
number  of  blows  used,  which  he  gave  me,  and  which  I  now  forget, 

"Now,"  said  I,  "suppose  that  by  some  sudden  jar  this  crack 
had  been  started  in  the  axle  under  the  tender  and  had  gone  on  un- 
til it  broke,  would  not  the  broken  end  look  exactly  as  it  does  now 
and  as  the  one  you  have  made  with  the  hammer?"  He  said  he  did 
not  see  why  it  would  not. 

"First  the  circumference  of  the  wheel  we  know  as  so  much,"  I 
continued.  "Now,  the  cracked  surface  of  the  axle  would  receive 
a  blow  at  least  every  time  the  wheel  revolved  in  running  the  dis- 
tance of  two  and  one-half  miles.  Won't  you  take  your  pencil  and 
calculate  and  tell  us  whether  it  would  not  receive  more  blows  in 
going  that  distance  than  it  took  you  to  smooth  down  the  end  of 
the  axle  which  I  gave  you?" 

He  started  back  after  he  got  through  his  calculation,  saying,  "I 
never  thought  of  this  before ;  I  shall  have  to  take  back  my  answer 
about  how  long  it  would  take  to  put  the  axle  in  this  condition  after 
the  crack  began,  and  saying  I  don't  know  anything  about  it."  I 
then  put  on  my  own  testimony  upon  the  matter  and  showed  that 
some  quarter  less  blows  were  used  in  preparing  the  end  of  the  other 
axle  than  the  broken  axle  received  in  going  the  distance  from  the 
frog  in  Andover  to  where  the  derailment  took  place. 

I  then  put  on  the  testimony  of  my  engineer  and  fireman,  who 
gave  their  evidence  in  a  very  straightforward,  honest  manner.  I 
also  put  on  my  man  who  said  he  tapped  the  wheels,  but  after  he 
left  the  stand  I  told  the  jury  I  was  bound  to  call  him,  but  I  didn't 
place  any  special  reliance  on  his  testimony,  because  he  was  under 
great  temptation  to  tell  the  story  as  he  did  to  save  himself  from 
harm,  although  I  believe  he  honestly  thought  so.  It  went  to  the 
jury,  who  gave  us  a  verdict.  There  were  no  other  cases  drawn 
out  of  this  derailment  tried  to  my  knowledge.  I  am  happy 
to  say  that  the  verdict  of  the  jury  entirely  confirmed  Mrs.  Pierce 
in  her  belief,  and  as  she  thanked  me  more  than  once  for  my  exertion 
in  ferreting  out  the  matter,  I  certainly  did  not  enter  into  any  dis- 
cussion as  to  her  faith. 


BY   FRANCIS   B.   C.   BRADLEE  39 

Until  the  introduction  of  the  air-brake,  or,  rather,  the 
vacuum  brake,  which  was  used  by  the  Boston  and  Maine 
for  some  years  before  they  adopted  the  present  Westing- 
liouse  air-brake,  the  trains,  both  passenger  and  freight, 
were  equipped  with  hand-brakes  only,  usually  of  the 
"Hodge  patent"  wheel  variety.  On  trains  of  four,  five 
or  six  cars,  it  was  the  duty  of  the  brakeman  to  stand  up 
near  tlie  brakes  between  the  two  rear  cars  ;  the  through 
Portland  trains  usually'  had  two  brakemen.  The  link 
and  pin  couplings  were  used  and  caused  the  loss  of  many 
an  arm  or  hand  ;  the  platforms  of  the  cars  were  so  far 
apart  that  one  had  to  jump  from  one  to  the  otlier.  The 
link  slanted  at  about  forty-five  degrees  as  it  hung  down, 
and  in  making  a  "hitch"  it  had  to  be  raised  to  a  level, 
inserted  in  the  opposite  draw-bar,  and  the  pin  dropped 
in.  Many  careful  men  carried  sticks  with  them  to  lift 
up  the  links  in  making  "hitches." 

The  train  crews  were  supposed  to  know  the  road  suffi- 
ciently well  to  make  the  regular  stops  without  the  en- 
gineer whistling  for  "brakes,"  and,  as  before  stated,  the 
brakeman  applied  the  brakes  between  the  two  rear  cars, 
the  baggage  master  on  the  two  forward  cars  and  the  fire- 
man on  the  tender.  Neither  the  conductor  nor  engineer 
touched  the  brakes  except  in  cases  of  urgent  necessity. 
When  either  end  of  the  route  was  reached,  the  baggage 
master  and  brakeman  unloaded  all  the  baggage,  swept 
and  cleaned  the  cars,  attended  to  the  stoves,  and  provided 
the  latter  with  coal  or  wood  for  the  return  trip.  The 
conductor,  in  addition  to  running  the  train  and  collecting 
tickets  and  fares,  was  obliged  to  take  charge  of  the  tin 
boxes  containing  the  money  collections  at  the  various 
stations  along  the  line  of  the  road,  a  matter  of  no  small 
responsibility. 

Many  of  the  early  freight  cars  had  no  brakes,  a  "brake 
car"  attached  to  the  rear  of  every  freight  train  supplying 
the  need.  On  either  side  of  the  draw-bars  of  the  early 
freight  cars  were  two  six-inch  blocks  of  wood,  with  an 
iron  face  called  the  "bumpers."  These  deadly  "bumj)- 
ers"  claimed  their  victims  but  too  often,  and  were  the 
one  thing  dreaded  by  the  old-time  railroad  men.     In  the 


40  THE    BOSTON   AND   MAINE   RAILROAD 

early  eighties  came  the  modern  draw-bar  and  coupler 
combined.  It  is  said  that  this  was  invented  by  an  old 
man  named  Mitchell,  a  car  cleaner  at  Lancaster,  N.  H.,  but 
like  most  inventors,  he  received  neither  the  honor  nor 
financial  benefit  from  it.  After  the  memorable  Revere 
disaster  on  the  Eastern  Railroad,  in  1871,  the  New  Eng- 
land railroads  adopted  many  safety  devices  little  thought 
of  until  then.  Thus,  in  1872,  the  Boston  and  Maine 
Railroad  introduced  the  Miller  platforms  and  couplers  on 
passenger  cars  and  the  vacuum  safety-brake,  controlled 
by  the  engineer  and  thought  by  many  railroad  men  to  be 
superior  to  the  air-brake.  The  first  Pullman  parlor  cara 
also  are  thought  to  have  been  first  run  by  the  Boston  and 
Maine  in  1872. 

All  the  early  locomotives  were  named  and  more  or 
less  ornamented.  The  bells  and  whistles  were  polished  to 
a  high  silver  brightness,  and  bright  shining  brass  bands 
encircled  the  boilers.  The  tenders  and  cabs  were  orna- 
mented with  fancy  scroll  designs,  and  the  oil  cups  and  other 
parts  of  the  running  machinery  were  kept  polished  and 
cleaned  by  the  fireman,  this  work  consuming,  sometimes, 
two  or  three  hours  of  his  time  each  day.  The  engineer's 
position  was  entirely  different  from  that  occupied  by  him 
today.  He  was  master  of  his  engine,  often  running  the 
same  one  for  many  years  ;  his  word  was  law  as  to  its 
repairs,  which  he  superintended.  The  work  of  an  en- 
gineer comprised  not  only  the  entire  care  of  a  locomotive 
as  to  its  running,  but  he  also  cared  for  all  the  journals, 
and  renewed  boxes,  bolts,  nuts,  in  fact  any  worn  parts  that 
two  men,  the  fireman  assisting,  could  attend  to  at  the  end 
of  the  run.  By  1850  the  engines  were  all  provided  with 
cabs  for  their  occupants'  shelter  from  storm.  It  may  be 
stated,  also,  that  the  Boston  and  Maine  was  one  of  the 
last,  if  not  the  very  last,  of  the  New  England  railroads 
to  keep  up  the  practice  of  naming  its  engines.  Many  of 
the  early  locomotives  were  of  a  type  now  obsolete,  called 
"insiders,"  shown  in  the  picture  of  the  "Lawrence,"  i.  e., 
the  cylinders  were  close  together  under  the  forward  end 
of  the  boiler.  These  required  a  cranked  axle  for  the 
forward  pair  of  driving  wheels. 


LOCOMOTIVE   "LAWRENCE,"   WEIGHT  TWENTY-FIVE   TONS 
Built  by  the  Lawrence  Machine  Shop,   I  853 


WOOD-BURNING   LOCOMOTIVE  "PACIFIC,"   BUILT  IN    1857 


BY    FRANCIS    B.    C.    BRADLEB  41 

In  1855,  Mr.  Thomas  L.  Williams  resigned  as  superin- 
tendent, and  the  directors  elected  in  his  place  Mr.  Wil- 
liam Merritt.  Mr.  Merritt  belonged  to  the  well-known 
Salem  family  of  that  name.  He  began  his  railroad  career 
in  1842  as  brakeman  on  the  Boston  and  Maine,  and  was 
soon  after  baggage  master  and  conductor  on  the  old  Essex 
Railroad,  operated  by  the  Eastern  Railroad,  now  known 
as  the  Lawrence  branch,  between  Salem  and  Lawrence. 
From  there  he  went  to  the  Cocheco  Railroad  of  New 
Hampshire  as  superintendent,  later  returning  to  the  Bos- 
ton and  Maine  as  general  freight  agent,  which  position  he 
filled  until  his  election  as  superintendent. 

In  those  days  the  superintendent  of  a  railroad  practi- 
cally ran  his  particular  road,  and  was  not,  as  today,  a 
mere  chief  clerk,  with  no  real  authority.  Mr.  Merritt 
was  a  man  of  great  executive  ability,  and  soon  placed 
the  road,  in  regard  to  its  practical  operation,  on  a  firmer 
footing  than  ever.  Under  him  the  use  of  the  telegraph 
in  train  operation  was  begun  ;  at  first  only  occasionally, 
in  case  of  wrecks  or  snow  storms  when  trains  were  badly 
disarranged.  Previous  to  the  early  1860's  the  regular 
Boston  and  Portland  Telegraph  Company's  wires  were 
depended  upon  ;  their  headquarters  were  on  State  street 
in  Boston,  and  much  inconvenience  was  caused  by  the 
delays  in  running  between  the  telegraph  office  and  the 
station  in  Hay  market  square.  The  Boston  and  Portland 
Co.  was  eventually  absorbed  by  the  Western  Union  Tele- 
graph Co.  About  1861  or  1862,  Mr.  Merritt  had  tele- 
graph wires  installed  in  his  office  in  the  Boston  station, 
and  employed  an  operator  during  the  day  to  control  the 
trains,  a  train  sheet,  so  calle<l,  being  used  to  record  the 
movement  of  trains.  In  1872,  after  the  Revere  disaster 
on  the  Eastern  Railroad,  which  was  largely  due  to  the 
telegraph  not  being  used,  the  Boston  and  Maine  and  nearly 
all  the  other  large  New  England  railroads  introduced  this 
new  method  of  dispatching  trains  by  telegraph,  with  day 
and  night  operators  at  the  more  important  stations.  It 
was  not  until  1884,  however,  that  trains  were  placed 
under  ci)mplute  telegraphic  control  ;  previous  to  that  time 
tbe  trains  were  run  according  to  the  time-tables  and  the 
rules  printed  therein  regarding  their  rights. 


42  THE   BOSTON   AND    MAINE   RAILROAD 

The  time-table  for  1870  shows  that  the  Boston  and 
Maine  ran  thirty-seven  trains  each  way  daily,  five  of  them 
freights  and  the  remainder  passenger  trains.  The  fact 
also  is  revealed  that  the  Boston  and  Maine  then  controlled 
and  operated  what  was  called  the  Dover  and  Winnipiseo- 
gee  Railroad  from  Dover,  N.  H.,  to  Alton  Bay,  N.  H.,  a 
distance  of  twenty-eight  miles.  This  road  is  now  extended 
to  Lakeport  and  called  the  Lakeport  branch.  Originally 
chartered  by  the  New  Hampshire  Legislature  on  June  28, 
1847,  the  Cocheco  Railroad,  as  it  was  at  first  called,  was 
to  have  been  built  from  Dover,  N.  H.,  to  Meredith,  in  the 
same  State,  there  to  connect  with  the  Boston,  Concord 
and  Montreal  Railroad.  This  project,  however,  never 
materialized,  although  the  Cocheco  road  was  put  under 
construction  in  June,  1848,  opened  from  Dover  to  Farm- 
ington,  a  distance  of  eighteen  miles,  on  September  21, 
1849,  and  from  Farmington  to  Alton  Bay  in  September, 
1851.  After  a  fierce  and  bitter  warfare  of  several  years 
with  the  Boston  and  Maine,  due  to  differences  in  regard 
to  the  amount  claimed  by  each  corporation  for  through 
passengers  and  freight,  the  Cocheco  road  was  reorganized 
and  renamed  "Dover  and  Winnipiseogee  Railroad,"  in 
April,  1863,  and  in  November  of  the  same  year  was 
leased  to  the  Boston  and  Maine  for  a  rental  of  $29,000  a 
year,  and  finally  absorbed  by  it  on  June  30,  1892. 

Through  its  connection  with  the  Wimiipiseogee  Rail- 
road, the  Boston  and  Maine  became  interested  in  steam- 
boats running  on  Lake  Winnipiseogee,  or  Wmnepesaukee, 
which  is  the  modern  way  of  spelling  the  name.  These 
were,  at  first,  the  "Dover,"  a  wooden  side-wheeler,  built 
in  1852,  afterwards  ret)uilt  and  called  the  "Chocorua  ;" 
she  measured  about  400  tons,  170  feet  long,  and  32  feet 
beam.  In  1872,  the  Boston  and  Maine  had  the  side- 
wheel  steamboat  "Mount  Washington"  l)uilt  at  Lakeport 
especially  for  traffic  on  the  lake.  She  is  750  tons  gross, 
180  feet  long,  5  1-2  feet  draft,  and  is  fitted  with  a  power- 
ful vertical  beam  engine.  As  the  "Mount  Washington"  is 
run  only  a  few  months  in  the  summer  in  fresh  water,  she 
is  still  in  active  service  and  l)ids  fair  to  last  many  years 
lonc-i-r,  having  been  rcbinlt  in  1914. 


TYPE  OF   RAILROAD  TRAIN   OF  ABOUT   1850   SHOWING  THE 
BAGGAGE  CRATE 


STEAMBOAT  "DOVER,"    LAKE  Wl  NN  EPESAUKEE 
Built  in   I  852,  afterwards  named  the  "  Chocorua." 


BY   FRANCIS   B.    C.   BRADLEE  43 

Mr.  John  Howe  resigned  as  president  in  1853,  and  soon 
after  accepted  the  presidency  of  the  Eastern  Railroad. 
He  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  James  Hayward,  who  remained 
in  office  until  1857,  when  Mr.  Francis  Cogswell  of  An- 
dover  became  president,  continuing  in  this  office  until 
1868.  The  directors  then  elected  Mr.  Israel  M.  Spelman 
of  Cambridge  as  president.  Mr.  Spelman  was  a  civil 
engineer  by  profession,  and  had  originally  helped  survey 
a  portion  of  the  road. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  November  21,  1862,  occurred 
the  second  of  the  three  bad  accidents  that  have  taken 
place  on  the  line  of  the  Boston  and  Maine  Railroad.  The 
passenger  train  from  Reading  was  run  into  the  open  draw 
of  the  bridge  almost  at  the  entrance  to  the  Boston  station. 
It  so  happened  that  the  train  had  stopped  at  the  Charles- 
town  station  just  before  going  on  to  the  bridge,  and,  at 
the  time  of  the  accident,  was  moving  at  a  speed  scarcely 
faster  than  a  man  could  walk  ;  and  yet  the  locomotive, 
the  "Bangor,"  was  entirely  submerged,  as  the  water  at 
that  point  was  deep.  Probably  the  only  thing  that  saved 
the  train  was  the  fact  that  the  draw  was  so  narrow  and 
the  cars  so  long  that  the  foremost  car  lodged  across  the 
opening,  its  forward  end  only  being  beneath  the  water. 
At  the  rate  the  train  was  moving,  the  resistance  thus 
offered  was  sufficient  to  stop  it,  though,  even  as  it  was, 
no  less  than  six  persons  lost  their  lives  and  a  much  larger 
number  were  more  or  less  injured.  Notwithstanding  all 
the  precautions  imposed  by  law  had  been  taken,  the  acci- 
dent was  due  to  the  neglect  of  the  corporation  in  not 
having  the  draw  and  its  system  of  signals  interlocked  in 
such  a  way  that  the  movement  of  the  one  should  auto- 
matically cause  a  corresponding  movement  of  the  other  ; 
and  this  neglect  in  high  quarters  made  it  possible  for  a 
careless  employee  to  open  the  draw  on  a  particularly  dark 
and  foggy  morning,  while  he  forgot  at  the  same  time  to 
change  his  signals. 

Probal)ly  no  railroad  was  ever  so  much  "investigated," 
and  with  so  little  result,  as  the  Boston  antl  Maine.  For 
example,  in  1866  a  leport  was  made  b)-^  a  committee  con- 
sisting   of  J.  E.  Bartlett  and  W.  B.  Dodge  on   the   man- 


44  THE  BOSTON   AND   MAINE  RAILROAD 

agement  of  the  road  for  the  previous  ten  years.  The 
report  begins  with  these  words  :  "  It  is  proposed  in  the 
following  pages  to  examine  into  the  condition  and  man- 
agement of  the  Boston  and  Maine  Railroad  for  the  last 
ten  years,  to  compare  the  same  in  some  essential  particu- 
lars with  other  first  class  railroads  terminating  in  Boston, 
and  finally  to  inquire  why  it  has  come  to  pass  that  this 
railroad,  which  stood  at  the  head  of  the  list  ten  years 
ago,  should,  in  all  important  results,  now  be  found  at  the 
bottom."  One  cannot  read  the  report  of  1866  without 
feeling  that  not  a  little  of  the  company's  present  day 
embarrassment  has  come  to  it  by  inheritance. 

By  1855,  as  a  result  of  their  management  of  the  prop- 
erty, the  directors  of  the  Boston  and  Maine  had  raised 
the  market  price  of  the  stock  above  that  of  any  of  the 
other  seven  roads  entering  Boston.  In  1866  the  stock 
held  the  fourth  place  and  not  the  first,  but  worse  than 
this  was  the  fact  that  its  percentage  of  gain  during  the 
ten-year  period  was  much  less  than  that  of  any  other 
Boston  railroad  stock.  In  trying  to  account  for  this,  the 
committee  brought  to  light  some  rather  surprising  facts. 
It  prepared  a  table  showing  the  "progress  and  amount  of 
business  that  came  to  the  Boston  and  Maine  Railroad 
through  the  Manchester  and  Lawrence  Railroad,  from  the 
year  1852  to  1856."  From  this  table  it  appears  that  the 
Boston  and  Maine,  in  the  year  1852,  received  business 
from  the  Manchester  and  Lawrence  to  the  amount  of 
$35,996.  In  1856  this  business  amounted  to  $80,095, 
and  continued  at  about  that  rate  until  May,  1.865,  when 
it  suddenly  fell  off,  the  result  for  the  eleven  months  pre- 
ceding the  committee's  report  being  126,430.  The  ques- 
tion immediately  arose,  "What  has  become  of  that  north- 
ern and  western  business  ?"  Investigation  showed  that 
it  had  gone  to  the  Boston  and  Lowell  and  the  Fitchburg 
Railroads.  It  must  be  admitted  that  the  report  of  the 
coninnttee  in  1866  made  a  very  poor  showing  for  the 
Boston  and  Maine  management. 

Take  such  a  case  as  the  following:  "In  the  matter  of 
ice,  the  Boston  and  Maine  Railroad  excels  all  other  roads 
terminatinor  in  Boston  as  to   the  facilities  for  obtaining:  an 


BY   FRANCIS    B.    C.    BRADLEE  45 

ice  crop,  to  wit :  Ponds  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  its 
track,  within  ten  miles  of  Boston,  to  the  number  of  four, 
having  a  united  capacity  of  seven  hundred  acres. 
Amounts  of  business  done  in  ice  from  October,  1864,  to 
October,  1865  :— 

Whole  number  of  tons,  13,491 

Received  for  its  transportation,  $9,390 

"In  the  same  article  of  ice,  the  Fitchburg  Railroad  has 
the  following  facilities,  to  wit  :  Ponds  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  its  track,  within  ten  miles  of  Boston,  to  the 
number  of  two,  having  a  united  capacity  of  three  hundred 
acres.  Amount  of  business  done  in  ice  from  December, 
1864,  to  December,  1865  : — 

Whole  number  of  tons,  157,000 

Received  for  its  transportation,  $90,000 

Why  should  the  Fitchburg  Railroad,  with  less  than  one- 
half  the  facilities  for  obtaining  an  ice  crop,  do  ten  times 
more  business  than  the  Boston  and  Maine  Railroad  ?" 
The  answer  was,  that  the  Fitchburg  had  some  limited 
facilities  for  shipping,  the  Boston  and  Maine  having  none. 
This  is  only  one  of  a  number  of  cases  which  might  be 
cited.  The  Boston  and  Maine  had  no  suitable  accommo- 
dations for  ice,  coal,  lumber,  lime,  or  other  bulky,  water- 
borne  freight.  At  the  same  time  the  road  suffered  from 
inadequate  equipment.  It  was  said,  in  1866,  that  no 
material  addition  had  been  made  to  the  rolling  stock  of 
the  road  for  the  last  ten  years,  and  that  a  vast  amount  of 
business  had  been  lost  in  consequence.  But,  asked  the 
investigating  committee  in  1866,  "how  did  it  happen 
that,  notwithstanding  the  meagre  business,  regular  divi- 
dends had  all  along  been  declared  ?"  The  answer  was 
easily  found.  To  make  up  the  deficit  occasioned  by  the 
loss  of  business  which  had  been  drawn  from  the  Manches- 
ter and  Lawrence  Railroads  and  from  other  directions, 
and  in  order,  as  it  was  claimed,  to  meet  increased  expenses 
incident  to  the  state  of  the  times,  particularly  during  the 
Civil  War,  a  resort  was  had  to  an  advance  in  the  rates  of 
freight  and  passenger  fare  levied    on    those    who,   on  ac- 


46  THE   BOSTON    AND    MAINE   RAILROAD 

count  of  their  location,  would  still  be  obliged  to  patron- 
ize the  Boston  and  Maine.  The  rates  from  Boston  to 
Lawrence,  for  example,  were  increased  fifty  per  cent,  in 
1865.  The  first  consequence  of  this  policy  was  an  out- 
burst of  indignation  and  an  appeal  to  the  Legislature  for 
relief,  which,  however,  was  not  readily  forthcoming.  This 
aspect  of  the  situation  is  extremely  interesting,  showing 
as  it  does  how  sentiment  has  changed  in  the  last  sixty 
years.  Then  it  seemed  a  perfectly  natural  thing  for  a 
railroad  to  increase  its  rates  in  order  to  provide  itself 
with  sufficient  funds  to  pay  its  dividend,  and  to  legislators 
it  seemed  a  right  enough  thing  for  it  to  do.  Times  have 
certainly  changed. 

The  investigating  committee  of  1866  drew  two  coral- 
laries  from  the  facts  which  they  discovered.  The  first 
was :  "No  permanent  [)rosperity  can  be  reasonably  ex- 
pected to  come  from  an  exorbitant  increase  in  the  rates 
of  freight  and  fare  levied  on  such  communities  as  may 
seem,  from  their  peculiar  relation  to  the  road  as  to  loca- 
tion, to  be  obliged  to  submit,  but  who  are  quite  likely  to 
invent  some  method  of  relief  or  retaliation."  The  sec- 
ond corollary  was :  "No  railroad  can  afford  to  alienate 
the  good  will  of  its  best  friends."  The  suggestion  which 
the  committee  made  was  that  suitable  and  adequate  pro- 
vision should  be  made  immediately  at  the  Boston  end  of 
the  line  to  accommodate  and  develop  the  business  that 
legitimately  belonged  to  the  road.  Other  roads,  it  said, 
had  been  ready  with  the  needed  facilities,  and  had  reaped 
their  reward.  The  Boston  and  Providence,  for  example, 
standing  at  the  bottom  of  the  list  ten  years  previously, 
was  in  1866  at  the  head.  The  secret  of  its  success  was 
obvious.  It  made,  in  season,  ample  provision  for  its 
business.  The  Boston  and  Lowell,  only  twenty-six  miles 
long,  although  it  controlled  the  Nashua  and  Lowell  to 
Nashua,  forty  miles  in  all,  had  tJdrty  acres  of  land  at  the 
Boston  end  of  its  line,  and  though  ten  years  previously, 
through  "lack  of  enterprise"  on  the  part  of  its  managers, 
it  appeared  to  be  smitten  with  premature  decay,  had  since 
arisen  "like  a  giant  from  his  slumbers,"  and  owing  to 
the  energy  of  its  new  president,  Hon.  Francis  B.  Crown- 


BY   FRANCIS    B.    C.    BRADLEB  47 

inshield,  protected  itself  on  every  side,  and  also  stood 
"ready  for  a  foray  in  any  direction  which  offers  a  chance 
for  spoils." 

Four  hundred  thousand  dolhirs  had  been  expended  for 
improvements  in  Boston  during  the  year  preceding  the 
report  of  the  investigating  committee  of  1866.  The 
Fitchburg,  with  ninety-three  miles  of  road,  owned  fifteen 
acres  of  freight  ground  in  Boston,  besides  ten  acres  or 
more  belonging  to  private  parties,  below  the  bridges  and 
on  deep  water,  with  which  it  was  connected.  The  Old 
Colony,  which  "fifteen  years  ago  seemed  to  have  neither 
beginning,  middle,  or  end,"  had  since  extended  itself 
three  fold,  secured  twenty  acres  of  land,  expended  four 
hundred  thousand  dollars  for  that  and  other  improvements 
at  the  Boston  end  of  its  line  ;  paid  more  dividends  in  the 
aggregate  for  the  ten  years  preceding  1866  than  any  other 
road  running  out  of  Boston, — all  in  great  measure,  says 
the  report,  through  the  constant  "foresight  and  vigor" 
of  the  master  at  the  helm.  Contrast  all  this  with  what 
the  Boston  and  Maine  had  been  doing : — 

With  its  147  miles  of  road,  and  only  six  acres  of  land  at  the  Bos- 
ton end  of  the  line,  on  which  are  crowded  machine  shop,  engine 
house,  wood-shed,  car-house,  repair-shop,  freight  houses,  passen- 
ger station,  etc.;  and  after  an  existence  of  twenty  years  since  it 
entered  Boston  on  its  own  tracks,  is  found  today  without  a  single 
berth  at  which  to  lay  and  discharge  a  vessel  by  authority  of  law, — 
what  has  the  Boston  and  Maine  done  at  this  vital  point  to  meet  the 
growing  demands  of  business,  and  to  maintain  its  true  position 
with  the  living  competitors  on  every  side?  If  a  single  fourpence- 
half-penny  has  been  expended  for  such  purposes  we  would  be  glad 
to  know  when  it  was  done  and  where  it  was  laid  out. 

But  [continued  the  committee  of  1866],  has  there  ever  been  any 
specific  suggestion  made  or  plan  executed  by  which  the  exigency 
can  be  met?  Most  assuredly  there  has  been.  More  than  a  dozen 
years  ago  the  engineer  who  planned  and  built  the  extension  into 
Boston  [James  Hayward],  and  who  was,  at  the  time  referred  to, 
president  of  the  road,  testified  before  a  committee  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Legislature,  that  the  freight  accommodations  of  the  Bos- 
ton and  Maine  were  at  that  early  day  inadequate  to  the  business  of 
the  road ;  that  to  make  the  road  what  it  was  intended  to  be — a 
first  class  railroad  connecting  with  navigation  on  deep  water — from 


48  THE   BOSTON    AND    MAINE    RAILROAD 

twelve  to  fifteen  acres  of  wharves  and  land  at  the  nearest  available 
location  about  a  mile  from  the  present  station  in  Boston  were 
needed.  Liberty  was  obtained  to  make  the  improvements.  lieave 
to  connect  the  same  with  the  Boston  and  Maine  Railroad  by  a 
branch  railroad  was  also  given.  Improvements  larger  in  amount 
than  is  named  above  were  soon  made,  and  seven  years  ago  the  Bos- 
ton and  Maine  Railroad  was  respectfully  notified  that  the  wharves 
were  ready  for  the  uses  for  which  they  were  authorized  and  cre- 
ated. They  answered,  they  '•thought  the  subject  was  worth  con- 
sidering." 

After  an  interval  of  seven  years,  during  which,  in  the  opinion  of 
a  gentleman  whose  official  duty  obliged  him  carefully  to  examine 
the  capabilities  and  the  performances  of  this  road,  "they  lost  from 
half  to  three-quarters  of  a  million  dollars  for  lack  of  these  facili- 
ties"— the  improvements  having  been  nearly  doubled — twenty-five 
acres  of  the  best  arranged  wharves  that  ever  has  been  or  ever  can 
be  built  in  Boston  harbor  for  the  accommodation  of  the  business  of 
the  Boston  and  Maine  Railroad,  .  .  .  the  attention  of  the  directors 
was  recently  recalled  to  the  subject  by  a  specific  proposition  by 
which  the  Boston  and  Maine,  at  the  trifling  outlay  of  $25,000  on 
their  part,  might  be  connected  with  all  these  wharves;  and  they 
answered,  "they  considered  the  subject  worth  thinking  about." 

It  is  in  no  spirit  of  captious  criticism  that  the  above 
facts  are  recited.  When  the  whole  Boston  and  Maine 
situation  of  today  is  summed  up,  the  lack  of  foresight 
of  the  management  sixty  years  ago  will  perhaps  play  no 
insignificant  part.  It  has  been  seen  that  the  Portland, 
Saco  and  Portsmouth  Railroad  was  under  a  joint  lease  to  the 
Eastern  and  Boston  and  Maine  companies  at  six  per  cent, 
yearly  rental.  If  a  breach  of  contract  should  be  made 
by  the  lessor,  it  should  pay  to  each  of  the  other  roads, 
lessees,  the  sum  of  $100,000,  or  in  all  $200,000.  During 
and  after  the  Civil  War  the  stockholders  of  the  Portland, 
Saco  and  Portsmouth  were  very  much  dissatisfied  that 
their  dividends  were  paid  in  depreciated  currency  instead 
of  gold,  and  so  in  January,  1870,  the  compau}^  decided  to 
break  the  contract  and  pay  the  stipulated  penalty.  And 
then  began  a  contest  which  gave  rise  to  much  private  and 
public  feeling.  It  became  evident  that  the  control  of  the 
Porthmd,  Saco  and  Portsmouth  was  essential  to  any  rail- 
road wliich  expected  to  receive  business  from  northeastern 
Maine  and  the  British  Provinces. 


Hon.  ISRAEL   M.    SPELMAN 
President  of  thp  Boston  &  Maine 

I  862-1  see 


LUCIUS    TUTTLE 

Presidf  nt  of  the  Boston  &  Maine 

I  893-1909 


WILLIAM   MERRITT 

Superintendent  of  the  Boston  &  Maine 

1855-1873 


CHARLES   MINOT 

Superintendent  of  the   Boston  &  Maine 

1842-1850 


BY   FRANCIS   B.    C.    BRADLEE  49 

The  Portland,  Saco  and  Portsmouth  now  put  itself  into 
the  market  to  excite  competition  among  the  three  roads, 
the  Maine  Central,  the  Boston  and  Maine  and  the  East- 
ern. Six,  eight,  and  finally  ten  per  cent,  was  offered.  At 
length  the  Eastern  Railroad  also  offered  ten  per  cent.,  and 
the  new  contract  in  perpetuity  was  awarded  to  it,  largely 
because  the  people  then  in  control  of  the  Portland,  Saco 
and  Portsmouth  road  happened  to  be  more  interested  pe- 
cuniarily in  the  Eastern  than  in  its  competitor,  the  Boston 
and  Maine.  As  soon  as  the  Eastern  became  the  sole 
lessor  of  the  Portland,  Saco  and  Portsmouth,  it  refused 
to  take  on  the  Boston  and  Maine  trains  at  South  Berwick 
Junction,  as  always  had  been  done  in  the  past,  and  haul 
it  to  Portland  as  part  of  its  own  train.  The  conductors 
of  the  Eastern  trains  were  instructed  :  "On  your  arrival 
at  South  Berwick  Junction  you  will  connect  with  the  Bos- 
ton and  Maine  cars,  but  if  latter  are  not  in  siirht  or  whistle 
heard,  you  will  proceed  immediately  to  Portland  without 
waiting."  Heretofore  the  rule  had  been  to  wait  one  hour 
if  the  train  were  delayed.  Very  naturally,  on  occasions, 
the  Boston  and  Maine  train  was  late,  and  then  the  passen- 
gers would  be  damped  out  at  South  Berwick,  a  most  un- 
interesting spot  in  which  to  waste  time. 

This  condition  of  affairs  precipitated  a  most  serious 
situation  for  the  Boston  and  Maine,  or,  as  its  management 
expressed  it  in  the  annual  report : — 

The  termination  of  this  contract  [the  Portland,  Saco  and  Ports- 
mouth lease]  left  us  with  a  road  74  miles  in  length,  terminating  in 
the  woods  in  the  town  of  South  Berwick.  Unable  to  make  any 
arrangement,  whether  for  the  joint  use  with  the  Eastern  Railroad 
of  the  road  from  that  point  to  Portland;  or  for  the  separate  use  of 
the  same,  by  lease,  contract,  or  otherwise,  application  was  made  to 
the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Maine  for  authority  to  extend  this 
road  from  South  Berwick   to   Portland. 

The  act  authorizing  this  extension,  41  miles  in  length, 
was  approved  February  17,  1871.  Work  was  begun  on 
it  in  the  autumn  of  the  same  year,  and  the  road  opened 
to  travel  on  March  17,  1873.  A  young  newspaper  re- 
porter was  the  sole  representative  of  the  press  on  the 
first  train  of  the  Boston  and    Maine    to    run    through  to 


60  THE   BOSTON   AND   MAINE    RAILROAD 

Portland  on  its  own  line.  He  went  in  company  with  Mr. 
James  T.  Furber,  who  at  that  time  had  jnst  become  the 
operating  head  of  the  Boston  and  Maine.  Mr.  Furber 
had  a  sturdy  and  vigorous  personality,  and  later  as  general 
manager  of  the  Boston  and  Maine  through  its  first  stages 
of  expansion,  did  so  much  to  lift  it  on  to  a  broader 
plane.  No  notice  had  been  given  that  the  operation  of  the 
new  extension  was  to  begin  that  day.  When  South  Berwick 
Junction  was  reached  tlie  Eastern  train  had  not  yet  ar- 
rived, and  no  intimation  had  been  received  by  the  Eastern 
people  that  they  were  not  to  connect  as  usual  with  the 
Boston  and  Maine  train.  The  then  young  newspaper  man 
says  he  well  remembers  Mr.  Furber's  triumphant  laugh  as 
he  gave  orders  for  the  train  to  keep  on  and  leave  the 
Eastern  to  itself  then  and  forever  after.  He  then  accom- 
panied Mr.  Furber  to  the  locomotive  and  rode  there  with 
him  the  rest  of  the  way  to  Portland.  The  extension  was 
built  at  the  cost  of  several  millions  of  dollars,  and  it  is 
said  the  expense  was  at  least  thirty  per  cent,  above  what 
it  would  have  been  had  good  judgment  been  used.  Land 
damages,  the  road-bed  and  the  masonry  were  unduly  ex- 
pensive from  the  extreme  haste  which  characterized  the 
precipitate  undertaking.  The  new  entrance  into  the  city 
of  Portland  also  entailed  a  vast  expenditure,  a  high  bluff 
of  clay  and  rock  having  to  be  penetrated  and  streets 
bridged.  For  terminal  purposes  the  old  Walker  House 
on  Commercial  street  was  purchased  and  remodelled  into 
a  passenger  station  and  used  as  such  until  the  present 
Union  station  was  built  in  1889. 

Mr.  William  Merritt  resigned  as  superintendent  in 
February,  1873,  he  having  met  the  year  before  with  a 
severe  fall,  from  the  effects  of  which  he  never  recovered. 
The  directors  elected  Mr.  James  Furber,  the  station  agent 
at  Rochester,  N.  H.,  to  take  his  place,  and  at  the  same 
time  appointed  Mr.  Merritt's  son,  William,  Jr.,  assistant 
superintendent.  In  1869,  the  capital  of  the  Boston  and 
Maine  was  increased  from  $4,155,000  to  $4,550,000,  en- 
titling each  holder  of  ten  shares  to  one  new  one  at  ])ar  ; 
in  1871  the  capital  stock  was  again  increased  to  $5,000,000, 
and  the  next  year  to  $7,000,000,  No  sooner  had  the 
"extension"  been  opened  to  Portland  than   the  company 


'WALKER  HOUSE"  STATION  OF  THE  B.  AND  M. 

Commercial  Street,  Portlar\d,   1873-1889 
Originally  t  hotel,  now  a  Railroad  Y.  M.  C.  A. 


BY    FRANCIS    B.    C.    BRADLEB  51 

found  themselves  once  more  "pocketed,"  so  to  speak,  by 
the  Eastern  Raihoad,  for  that  corporation,  by  the  pur- 
chase of  15,274  shares  of  stock  of  the  Maine  Central 
Railroad,  at  a  cost  of  11,220,538,  far  above  the  market 
value,  obtained  the  control  of  the  latter  road.  At  this 
time  the  Boston  and  Maine  could  not  sell  a  ticket  below 
Portland,  nor  would  the  Maine  Central  haul  any  of  their 
passenger  cars.  Between  Boston  and  Portland  a  compe- 
tition more  furious  than  ever  was  maintained  between  tlie 
two  rival  railroads ;  in  fact,  the  war  of  rates  was  esti- 
mated to  have  cost  the  Eastern  road  alone  $10,000  to 
$12,000  per  month.i  Finally,  in  November,  1874,  an 
arrangement  was  entered  into  between  the  Eastern  and 
Boston  and  Maine  which  in  a  measure  stopped  the  ruin- 
ous competition,  but  the  relations  between  the  two  roads 
were  never  very  friendly. 

The  Boston  and  Maine  also  found  an  outlet  at  Portland 
by  connecting  with  the  tracks  of  the  Grand  Trunk  Rail- 
way. This  was  accomplished  in  September,  1874,  and  at 
the  same  time  the  change  of  gauge  for  the  whole  distance 
between  Detroit  and  Portland  was  fully  consummated, 
so  that  both  passenger  and  freight  cars  were  enabled  to  run 
from  Boston  to  San  Francisco.  This  connection  secured 
to  the  Boston  and  Maine  much  better  facilities  in  the 
transportation  of  passengers  and  freight  from  points  on 
their  road  to  points  on  the  Grand  Trunk  and  beyond. 
The  construction  in  Maine  of  the  Lewiston  and  Auburn 
Railroad,  live  miles  long,  connecting  with  the  Grand 
Trunk,  opened  to  the  Boston  and  Maine  the  cities  of 
Lewiston  and  Auburn,  and  beginning  in  September,  1874, 
their  passenger  cars  ran  through  between  Boston  and 
Lewiston  without  change.  Another  valuable  acquisition 
made  by  the  company  was  the  purchase  of  Smith's  wharf 
on  Commercial  street,  Portland,  "by  means  of  which  we 
were  enabled  to  place  our  cars  within  the  yards  of  the 
largest  lumber  dealers  in  Portland,  and  within  the  means 
of  close  connection  with  steamers  for  Halifax,  St.  John, 
Bangor,  Mt.  Desert,  etc.^ 

'The  41st  Annual  Report,  Eastern  R.  R.  Co. 
^Annual  Report,  Boston  and  Maine  R.  R.,  1874. 


52  THE   BOSTON   AND    MAINE   RAILROAD 

The  Lowell  and  Andover  Raili'oad,  now  known  as  the 
Lowell  branch,  from  Lowell  Junction,  on  the  main  road 
of  the  Boston  and  Maine,  to  Lowell,  a  distance  of  eight 
and  one-half  miles,  was  placed  under  construction  during 
1874,  and  opened  for  business  on  December  1,  1875.  Be- 
fore its  completion  it  had  been  leased  to  the  Boston  and 
Maine,  and  as  it  opened  a  new  route  between  Boston  and 
Lowell,  it  immediately  brought  that  company  into  collision 
with  the  Boston  and  Lowell  Railroad.  The  want  of  deep- 
water  terminals  in  Boston,  previously  mentioned,  had  been 
partially  met  by  the  construction  of  a  wharf  1,200  feet 
long  on  the  southerly  side  of  the  Mystic  river  in  Somer- 
ville,  authority  having  been  previously  obtained  from  the 
Massachusetts  Legislature  of  1873. 

In  1876  came  the  notable  "race"  between  the  Eastern 
and  Boston  and  Maine,  the  following  interesting  account 
of  which  is  derived  from  an  article  by  Winfield  S.  Nevins, 
at  that  time  Salem  correspondent  of  the  Boston  Herald, 
and  published  in  the  Salem  Evening  News,  February  9, 
1917:— 

At  that  time  the  Maine  Central  Boston  trains  ran  out  over  the 
water  at  Portland  to  Cape  Elizabeth  and  then  back  into  the  Port- 
land station  over  the  Eastern  or  P.  S.and  P.  tracks.  The  Boston 
passengers  for  the  Boston  and  Maine  road  vrere  transferred  at  the 
transfer  station  not  far  from  vphere  the  present  Union  station  is 
located,  the  station  of  the  Boston  and  Maine  being  on  Commercial 
street  directly  opposite  the  Eastern  and  Maine  Central  union  station 
of  those  days.  When  this  race  began  on  Monday,  the  hrst  train  of 
the  week  from  Portland,  old  "64,"  now  "40,"  came  from  Bangor 
in  charge  of  conductor  "Gus"  Lincoln,  a  veteran  of  the  Maine 
Central.  [From  1873  to  1877  the  Eastern  and  Maine  Central  train 
crews  alternated  in  running  through  from  Boston  to  Bangor — 245 
miles.]  The  Eastern  won  by  eleven  minutes,  having  more  cars  and 
less  mileage.  ...  It  was  114  miles  to  Boston  over  the  Boston  and 
Maine  and  109  over  the  Eastern.  On  Tuesday  the  Eastern  won  out 
by  a  few  minutes.  Everybody  waited  for  Wednesday,  when  that 
old  veteran,  "Dan"  Sanborn,  should  bring  the  train  from  Bangor 
to  Boston. 

Over  the  Maine  Central  trains  had  to  make  regular  time,  but 
when  they  reached  the  tracks  of  the  Eastern  and  Boston  and  Maine 
all  semblance  of  "Time"  was  banished.  "Dan"  Sanborn  had  for 
engineer  one  of  the  best  men  who  pulled  a  throttle  in  this  or  any 


BY   FKANCIS    B.    C.    BRADLEE  53 

other  country  at  that  time — "Bill"  Johnson,  As  quickly  as  John- 
son's locomotive  could  be  coupled  on  to  the  train  ...  he  struck 
for  Boston.  Sanborn  and  Johnson  constituted  about  the  best 
"team"  that  ever  attempted  to  handle  a  train.  I  well  remember 
when  they  came  out  of  Salem  tunnel  and  into  the  station  with  old 
•'64"  that  afternoon  ...  it  was  some  fifteen  minutes  ahead  of 
scheduled  time.  The  old  locomotive  fairly  roared  and  raged  as  it 
came  tearing  across  Norman  street.  It  pulled  down,  the  mail  was 
dumped  off  and  taken  on;  no  baggage  was  taken  and  no  wait  was 
made  for  passengers.  Sanborn  swung  his  arm  to  go  ahead,  grabbed 
the  writer  of  this  article  and  pushed  him  up  the  step,  and  away 
we  went  for  Boston.  In  Lynn  the  same  thing  was  done — leave  and 
take  mail,  while  passengers  looked  on  with  wonder  and  perhaps 
anger,  to  be  left  on  the  platform.  Then  off  for  Boston.  "Mile  a 
minute  time"  was  rare  on  New  England  railways  then,  but  we 
made  it.  Sanborn  and  the  writer  stood  looking  out  of  the  rear  door 
of  the  rear  car  watching  for  the  Boston  and  Maine  as  the  train 
made  that  curve  just  this  side  of  Somerville  station.  Today,  at 
thirty  miles  an  hour,  it  will  throw  a  man  down  if  he  is  not  pre- 
pared. We  were  prepared  that  afternoon,  but  we  lurched  over 
almost  in  a  heap,  and  both  thought  the  car  had  gone  off  the  rails. 
It  had  not,  and  on  we  rushed  across  everything  on  into  Boston. 
"Deadhead"  stops  had  to  be  made  at  the  Boston  and  Maine  cross- 
ing in  Somerville  and  at  the  Fitchburg  crossing  in  Charlestown. 
We  made  the  first  one  fully,  but  the  wheels  did  not  cease  entirely 
to  roll  before  we  went  over  the  Fitchburg,  arriving  at  5.04  P.  M. 

The  writer  jumped  off  the  train  and  ran  for  the  Boston  and 
Maine  station  in  Haymarket  Square,  which  he  reached  before  their 
train  arrived  at  5.08^,  just  in  time  to  inform  my  old  friend,  "Jim" 
Furber,  superintendent  of  the  road,  that  I  had  come  in  on  the 
"64,"  and  to  greet  my  friends  of  the  Boston  and  Maine  on  the 
train. 

The  Boston  and  Maine  was  much  chagrined  over  this  defeat.  I 
wrote  an  account  of  it  for  the  Boston  Herald,  with  which  I  was 
then  connected,  and  for  the  Bangor  Whig  and  Courier.  The  Boston 
and  Maine  officials  sought  to  break  its  force  by  denying  that  there 
was  any  "race,"  but  they  were  met  with  indisputable  facts.  They 
did  not  attempt  to  deny  the  statements  of  the  Herald,  because  all 
Boston  kuew  them  to  be  true.  There  was  no  real  effort  on  the  part 
of  either  road  after  Wednesday  to  do  any  serious  "racing."  The 
Eastern  won  the  "race."  Now  the  Eastern  lies  down  with  the 
Boston  and  Maine,  like  the  lamb  that  laid  down  with  the  lion. 
It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  running  time  of  the  Eastern  train 
that  day,  under  those  conditions,  was  three  hours  and  twenty-six 
minutes,  the  train  consisting  of  seven   cars,  one   Pullman  only,  if 


64  THE   BOSTON   AND    MAINE    KAILKOAD 

any.  The  Boston  and  Maine  had  five  cars  and  made  sixteen  stops, 
and  its  running  time  was  three  hours  and  tliirty-eight  minutes. 
Today  [1917]  the  Eastern  division  train  makes  the  run  in  three 
hours  and  fifteen  minutes,  with  ten  or  twelve  cars  of  much  heavier 
build.  The  "express"  to  Portland  left  Boston  at  8.45  A.  M.  and 
reached  there  at  1  P.  M.,  or  in  four  and  a  quarter  hours.  On  the 
occasion  of  this  race  the  run  from  Lynn  to  Boston  in  twenty  min- 
utes was  chronicled  as  something  phenomenal. 

The  locomotives  used  were  the  "Atlantic"  on  the 
Eastern  train  and  the  "North  Star"  on  the  Boston  and 
Maine  road.  A  former  official  of  the  Boston  and  Maine 
in  service  at  the  time  of  the  above  occurrence  has  in- 
formed the  writer  that  there  really  was  no  race  at  all. 
The  whole  thing,  in  his  opinion,  was  gotten  up  for  advertis- 
ing purposes  by  George  Bachelder,  then  superintendent 
of  the  Eastern  Railroad.  A  special  telegraph  message 
was  even  sent  to  the  conductor  and  engineer  of  the  Boston 
and  Maine  train  not  to  depart  from  their  running  time 
under  any  circumstances  whatever.  Since  the  foregoing 
was  written,  it  has  also  been  learned  that  another  and 
apparently  more  realistic  race  took  place  between  the 
Eastern  and  Boston  and  Maine  roads  in  1857  or  1858, 
when  it  was  actually  a  question  of  the  United  States  mail 
contract.  As  every  one  who  took  part  in  this  first  trial 
of  speed  is  dead,  very  little  can  be  found  out  concerning 
it  except  that  the  Eastern  train  won  and  the  two  locomo- 
tives used  were  the  "City  of  Lynn"  on  the  latter  road 
and  the  "Massachusetts"  on  the  Boston  and  Maine.  The 
mere  fact  of  there  having  been  two  races  has  greatly 
confused  the  matter,  and  it  has  been  only  with  the  great- 
est difficulty  that  any  information  has  been  obtained. 

In  the  meantime,  in  1872,  a  branch  known  as  the 
West  Amesbury  Branch  Railroad  had  been  built  from  the 
main  line  of  the  Boston  and  Maine  at  Newton  Junction 
to  Merrimack,  Mass.,  a  distance  of  four  and  one-half 
miles.  It  was  leased  to  the  Boston  and  Maine  on  January 
9,  1873.  At  one  time  it  was  contemplated  to  extend  tiiis 
line  to  Amesbury  and  thus  compete  with  the  Eastern 
Railroad,  but  the  lease  of  the  latter  corporation  to  the 
Boston  and  Maine  put  an  end  to  the  sclieme.  Of  late 
years  s-ervice  on  this  and  on  many  other  of  the  Boston 
and  Maine  branches  has  been  })ractically  abandoned,  due 
partly  to  the  competition  of  the   electric  street  railways, 


BY   FRANCIS   B.    C.   BRADLEE  55 

but  also  in  large  measure  to  the  absolutely  demoralized 
condition  of  the  whole  Boston  and  Maine  system.  Trains, 
passenger  and  freight,  were  taken  off  when  this  country 
entered  the  European  struggle,  with  the  distinct  under- 
standing that  they  would  be  replaced  at  the  close  of  the 
war.  This  has  not  been  done,  and  a  deep  feeling  of  hos- 
tility against  the  road  has  been  aroused  in  many  localities 
through  which  it  passes  and  which  it  will  take  a  long  time 
to  overcome. 

Not  many  of  the  present  generation  realize  that  the 
splendid  system  of  time  under  which  the  railroads  of  the 
United  States  are  now  operated  was  not  always  the  same. 
But  such  is  the  fact,  and  not  until  1883,  when  the  first 
time  convention  was  called,  was  there  any  relief  in  sight 
for  the  time  tangle.  The  duty  of  this  time  convention 
was  to  work  out  a  system  of  time  that  would  do  away 
with  the  crude  and  confusing  system  then  in  effect.  The 
convention  met  and  the  result  was  the  establishment  of 
what  is  now  known  as  standard  time.  Besides  clearing 
up  the  time  situation,  the  convention  formed  a  permanent 
organization  which  is  called  the  American  Railway  Asso- 
ciation. It  is  this  organization  which  has  given  us  stand- 
ard rules  and  has  done  much  to  bring  about  safe  practice 
in  train  operation.  Before  standard  time  was  adopted 
there  were  more  than  fifty  standards  of  time  in  use  by  the 
railroads  for  train  operation  throughout  the  United  States, 
and  the  chaos  that  existed,  where  a  matter  of  connections 
was  concerned,  can  well  be  imagined.  A  traveller  who 
had  to  journey  over  three  or  four  railroads  was  unable  to 
count  on  connections  with  any  certainty.  Even  on  the 
same  road  it  was  unusual  to  have  the  same  kind  of  time 
on  any  two  districts.  Passengers  were  subjected  to  fur- 
ther inconvenience  and  confusion  by  frequent  time  changes, 
especially  by  the  smaller  roads,  and  to  make  matters  still 
worse,  few  conductors  could  tell  the  kind  of  time  in  use 
on  connecting  lines.  Under  the  present  system  there  are 
four  different  times  used  in  the  United  States,  with  the 
exception  that  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  uses  Atlantic 
time  on  its  lines  east  of  Vanceboro,  Maine.  All  the 
standards  of  time  are  an  even  hour  apart,  with  an  elastic 
boundary  line  between  the  hour  sections,  the  exact  point 
at  which  a  road  shall  change  time   being   specified.     The 


66  THE   BOSTON   AND  MAINE  RAILROAD 

four  principal  times  are  based  upon  the  75th,  90th,  105th 
and  120th  meridians,  and  for  purposes  of  designation  they 
are  called  Eastern,  Central,  Mountain  and  Pacific  time 
respectively. 

Prior  to  1883,  some  lines  were  so  situated  that  it  re- 
quired six  or  seven  kinds  of  time  for  trains  to  get  over 
the  road  on,  and  so  complex  had  the  situation  become 
that  very  few  operating  officials  could  state  the  time  that 
was  used  upon  any  road  except  their  own,  and,  in  some 
cases,  its  immediate  connections.  As  had  been  previously 
arranged,  the  change  to  standard  time  was  made  on  a  Sun- 
day in  November,  1883.  When  the  hour  of  noon  arrived 
the  bells  of  St.  Paul's  Chapel,  New  York,  tolled  the  hour 
of  local  time,  and  just  four  minutes  afterward  the  West- 
ern Union  time-ball  fell  and  Trinity's  chimes  rang  out 
the  new  standard  hour,  in  accordance  with  an  electric  sig- 
nal from  the  Naval  Observatory  at  Washington  City. 
This  splendid  arrangement  of  time  was  planned  by  Mr. 
W.  F.  Allen,  secretary  of  the  American  Railway  Associa- 
tion. It  marked  a  new  era  in  railroad  operation.  In  the 
old  days  on  the  Boston  and  Maine  the  regulating  clock  in 
the  Boston  station  was  the  standard  time  for  all  parts  of 
that  road,  and  the  rule  regarding  regulation  of  watches, 
etc.,  taken  from  time-table  No.  96,  to  take  effect  May  2, 
1870,  was  as  follows  :  "Conductors  and  engineers  must 
daily  set  their  watches  by  the  regulating  clock  in  the  Bos- 
ton station,  which  is  the  standard  of  time  for  the  clocks 
at  the  stations  and  the  watches  of  all  men  employed  on 
the  road.  It  is  made  the  duty  of  the  oldest  freight  con- 
ductor to  see  that  all  the  clocks  of  the  way  stations  east 
of  Reading  conform  to  the  standard.  The  Reading  pas- 
senger train  conductor  will  regulate  the  clocks  from  Read- 
ing to  Boston,  and  the  Medford  conductor  the  clocks  of 
the  Medford  branch."  The  old  Eastern  Railroad,  on  the 
other  hand,  while  requesting  their  conductors  and  en- 
gineers to  "compare  time  daily"  ordered  that  all  clocks  and 
all  the  watches  of  the  employees  must  be  regulated  ac- 
cording to  "Willard's  time."  Willard  was  for  many 
years  a  well-known  watchmaker,  and  his  father  invented 
the  celebrated  clock  bearing  his  name. 


IS.  ^  sai2»  JE.  W^.     Fare  $2| 

G06D  for  a  passage  to  any  Station  onJpJTCPp0ra.nd, 
Saco  and  Portsmouth  Rail  Road,  irv  theyo^e^rm  Train 
0/  Mw  rfay  only. 


17  Panenfen  ore  tun  MIswed   to  ta)t«,  nor  will  theM  Compsnlei  h«  retponM- 
hte   for  OACsjkos  tr  h  etieed  FIFTY   DOLLARS   in  value,  ud1«»  Freight  on  any 
j  addliinn  fliere^  be  nid  In  sdTiincc ;  and  tUi  notice  <ur<nf  a  part  o{  all  Contracts  j 
j  for  Iransportstloo  t^  paiMncef*  and  their  efesu. 


CO 


Manchester  A  Lawrence  R  R 


LONDONDERRY 

^Tirii^soitf  s. 


Form  200 


li.  1.  A. 


'Portland,  Saco  &Portsinont}iR.R. 


Kennebunk  to  Portland 


\  Portland  to  Brunswick.  / 

-^       |0S^    (Le".ston  I  .ICuiiu>'l>unk  I       ^ 


t  ANDROSCOGGIN  RAIL  ROAD 


[j  Brunswick  to  Lewiston. 

a         Issued  hi  9  %   Si  P   R.  R. 

^V  (Kennebunk.) 


TICKETS  IN  USE  FROM  1840  TO  1870 


BY   FRANCIS   B.    C.    BRADLEE  67 

The  first  of  the  present  railroad  labor  unions  was  the 
Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Engineers,  organized  May  8, 
1863,  at  Detroit,  Michigan.  A  New  England  division 
was  formed  during  the  following  December  at  Lebanon, 
N.  H.,  by  the  engineers  of  the  Northern  Railroad  of  New 
Hampshire.  The  engineers  of  the  various  roads  entering 
Boston  united  to  form  Boston  Division,  No.  61,  on  Janu- 
ary 6,  1865.  The  order  of  Railway  Conductors  was  first 
organized  at  Mendota,  111.,  in  the  spring  of  1868,  and, 
until  1878,  was  known  as  the  Conductors'  Brotherhood. 
Not  until  1  884  did  this  Order  spread  to  New  England, 
when  Boston  Division,  No.  122,  was  organized  on  July 
20  of  that  year.  At  first,  in  New  England,  the  brother- 
hoods were  purely  social  and  charitable  organizations,  but 
during  the  hard  times  following  the  panic  of  1873  the 
Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Engineers  brought  pressure 
to  bear  on  some  of  the  roads  for  higher  pay.  During  the 
course  of  1877  there  were  serious  strikes  on  the  Pennsyl- 
vania and  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  systems.  On  January 
15,  1876,  the  directors  of  the  Boston  and  Maine  ordered 
a  ten  per  cent,  reduction  in  the  wages  of  all  employees. 
At  that  time  the  engineers  were  receiving  $3.50  per  day, 
and  if  they  ran  any  one  month  without  having  an  accident 
for  which  they  were  responsible,  they  received  a  bonus  of 
twenty-five  cents  per  day  for  the  entire  month,  which 
made  their  pay  ^3.75  per  day.  The  ten  per  cent,  cut 
would  have  reduced  their  wages  to  $3.37  1-2  per  day, 
but  the  directors  decided  to  make  it  $3.40.  It  was  also 
promised  that  when  general  business  conditions  improved 
the  original  rate  of  pay  would  be  restored.  The  engineers 
were  dissatisfied,  and  as  the  engine  men  on  other  Boston 
roads  were  paid  $3.50  per  day,  they  wanted  the  same 
rate,  but  the  directors  of  the  Boston  and  Maine  ruled 
that  they  could  not,  in  justice  to  the  other  em- 
ployees, give  their  engineers  any  preference.  Dissatisfac- 
tion began  at  once,    and    the    engineers'    committee    had 


58  THE   BOSTON   AND   MAINE   RAILROAD 

many  conferences    with    the    management,  at  which  the- 
situation  was  fully  discussed. 

The  directors  were  firm  in  the  stand  they  had  taken^ 
and  the  enginemen,  failing  to  get  their  request  granted^ 
called  upon  the  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Engineers,  to 
which  they  all  belonged,  to  tai^e  the  case  up  with  the 
management  of  the  railroad.  The  late  P.  M.  Arthur,  for 
many  years  chief  of  the  Brotherhood,  came  to  Boston  in 
the  interest  of  the  engineers,  but  the  directors  refused  to- 
deal  with  him  or  any  committee  from  the  Grand  Lodge, 
and  said  they  would  deal  only  with  a  committee  of  their 
own  men.  At  this  time  the  president  of  the  Boston  and 
Maine  was  Nathaniel  G.  White  of  Lawrence,  and  the  di- 
rectors were  George  C.  Lord,  Amos  Paul  (a  former  en- 
gineer on  the  road),  Nathaniel  J.  Bradlee,  William  S. 
Stevens,  James  R.  Nichols,  John  Felt  Osgood,  Samuel  E. 
Spring  and  Nathaniel  W.  Farwell.  Mr.  Arthur,  soon 
after,  ordered  the  engineers  to  strike.  Thereupon  their 
committee  notified  the  Boston  and  Maine  management  on 
February  12,  1877,  at  2  P.  M.,  that  unless  their  demands 
-were  o-ranted,  they  would  strike  at  4  P.  M.,  and  that  the 
firemen  would  leave  work  with  them.  However,  Super- 
intendent Furber  had  been  busy  for  some  time  in  hiring 
engineers  and  firemen  to  take  the  places  of  his  men  should 
they  strike.  The  men,  137  all  told,  did  go  out  at  4  P.  M. 
and  remained  with  their  engines  until  6  P.  M.,  and  then 
"dumped"  their  fires  and  let  the  water  out  of  their  boilers- 
and  tanks.  Some  of  them  gave  up  their  locomotives  in 
o-ood  condition  without  making  trouble  for  the  men  who 
took  their  places  ;  others  uncoupled  their  engines  from 
the  trains  between  stations  and  ran  them  back  and  forth, 
so  as  to  prevent  anyone  from  taking  their  places,  and 
when  they  finally  abandoned  their  locomotives  they  were 
without  fires  or  water.  The  substitute  engineers  had  been 
riding  on  the  passenger  trains  for  some  time  previous  to 
the  strike,  learning  the  road  and  the  operation  of  the 
trains.  As  soon  as  the  notice  was  given  that  the  strike 
would  take  place  arrangements  were  made  to  sidetrack  all 


BY   FRANCIS   B.    C.   BRADLEE  59 

freight  trains.  On  the  night  of  February  12  train  service 
■was  badly  demoralized,  but  the  railroad  managed  to  keep 
a  few  moving,  and  by  so  doing  many  passengers  reached 
home. 

The  next  day  more  trains  were  in  operation,  and  b}'^  the 
end  of  the  week  a  distinct  improvement  was  made.  Peo- 
ple who  usually  patronized  the  Boston  and  Maine,  re- 
turned home  by  the  Boston  and  Lowell  or  Eastern  roads, 
when  convenient  to  do  so.  The  engineers  who  took  the 
places  of  the  strikers  were  competent  men,  having  been 
employed  on  other  roads,  and  at  that  time  were  out  of  work 
on  account  of  the  poor  business  conditions  then  prevail- 
ing all  over  the  country.  It  would  appear  strange  that 
other  engineers  in  good  standing  should  be  willing  to  work 
against  the  strikers,  but  in  many  cases  they  had  a  griev- 
ance against  the  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Engineers 
on  account  of  having  been  refused  membership  and  for 
other  reasons.  At  any  rate  none  of  the  strikers  were 
taken  back  by  Superintendent  Furber.  Many  of  them 
were  hired  by  the  Eastern  Railroad  as  firemen  and  started 
over  again  at  the  bottom  of  the  ladder  at  '11.80  per  day. 
During  the  trouble  it  was  feared  that  some  of  the  other 
New  England  roads  would  be  affected,  but  nothing  mate- 
riahzed.  This  strike  has  been  dealt  with  at  length  be- 
cause  it  created  a  great  deal  of  comment  at  the  time.  It 
has  its  historic  significance  by  reason  of  its  being  one  of 
the  first  railroad  strikes  in  the  country  and  the  very  first 
manifestation  of  trouble  in  New  Ensfland,  where  the 
brotherhoods  took  root  very  slowly. 

Forty  years  ago,  or  even  twenty  years  ago,  railroading 
in  New  England  was  vastly  different  from  what  it  is  to- 
day. The  roads  were  small,  the  officials  knew  all  the 
men  and  called  many  of  them  by  their  first  names  ;  this 
created  a  feeling  of  solidarity  which,  today,  is  conspicu- 
ous by  its  absence.  In  those  days  the  runs  were  not  as 
at  present  bid  for  by  the  men,  seniority  prevailing  ;  all 
the  crews  were  assigned  their  runs  by  the  superintendent 
or  master  mechanic  respectively.  The  time-table,  taking 
effect  on  June  19,  1882,  shows  that  the  Boston  and  Maine 
then  ran  fifty-four  passenger   and  freight  trains    on  the 


CO  THE   BOSTON   AND   MAINE    RAILROAD 

main  line  each  way  on  week  days ;  on  Sundays  eleven 
trains  each  way  were  run. 

In  1883  the  Kennebunkport  Branch  Railroad,  four  and 
one-half  miles  long,  was  built  to  connect  Kennebunk  on 
the  main  road  of  the  Boston  and  Maine  with  the  former 
seaside  town.  It  was  leased  to  the  parent  road  on  May  15, 
1883,  and  opened  for  business  on  June  18  of  the  same  year. 

Very  few  of  the  employees  of  what  was  called  the  "old 
Boston  and  Maine,"  before  all  the  consolidations  took 
place,  are  in  active  service  today.  One  of  the  best  known 
of  these  is  J.  E.  Alger,  a  former  engineer,  who  retired  in 
October,  1918.  A  recent  communication  of  his,  pub- 
lished in  the  Boston  and  Maine  Bulletin  for  February, 
1920,  is  well  worth  reproducing,  as  it  mentions  many  "old 
timers"  familiar  to  travellers  a  generation  or  two  ago, 
and  also  brings  to  light  some  interesting  facts  of  days  long 
gone  by  : — 

OLD-TIMERS. 

Reading,  Mass. 
Mr.  John  Roukke,  Superintendent,  Portland  Division,  Boston  & 
Maine  Railroad. 

Dear  Sir  :  It  has  not  been  my  privilege  to  meet  you  personally; 
still  I  have  felt  that,  as  my  superior  officer  on  the  road,  we  had  an 
acquaintanceship. 

When  a  pension  draft  for  the  month  came  to  me,  I  felt  that  I 
could  not  let  it  go  by  without  an  acknowledgment  of  the  receipt 
of  it. 

My  service  on  the  Boston  &  Maine  Railroad  has  been  a  fairly  long 
and  very  pleasant  one.  I  recall  the  faces  of  men  who  first  met  me 
in  Superintendent  Furber's  office,  February  10th,  1877.  I  was  not 
a  novice  at  railroading,  beginning  in  the  Boston  &  Albany  shops 
in  Boston  on  November  30,  1&68,  firing  January  13,  1873,  and  run- 
ning July,  1874,  on  a  narrow  gauge  railroad  between  Grafton  Centre 
and  North  Grafton  on  the  B.  &  A.  I  helped  build  the  engine  for 
the  road  at  the  shop  of  Jerome  Wheelock  in  Worcester,  Mass. 

Born  a  railroad  boy  on  March  28,1850,  and  the  record  begun  by  my 
father  in  December,  1846,  is  still  being  carried  on  by  my  brother, 
A.  W.  Alger,  on  the  Boston  &  Maine. 

Two  of  the  men  I  met  in  Mr.  Furber's  office,  February  10,  1877,  I 
meet  occasionally,  William  Merritt,  at  that  time  assistant  to  Mr. 
Furber,  and  John  A.  Meloney  of  Wakefield,  Mass.,  a  clerk  in  the 


BY  FKANCIS   B.   C.   BRADLEE  61 

office.  All  the  others  are  gone,  so  far  as  I  can  find  out.  There  are 
in  service  to-day  only  two  that  were  in  the  old  Haymarket  Square 
station  at  that  time:  Charles  H.  Nowell,  paymaster  at  that  time, 
and  Ash  Bartlett,  now  in  service  at  the  North  Station,  or  I  should 
say  the  Terminal  Division.     I  know  of  no  others. 

The  oldest  man  in  the  train  service  to-day  of  the  old  Boston  & 
Maine  is  Conductor  George  Lunt,  who  began  in  1869,  and  was  a 
baggage-master  on  a  run  in  from  Danvers  in  the  morning,  to  New- 
buryport  at  12.40  p.  m.,  back  to  Boston  and  home  to  Danvers  at 
night.     John  Bedell  began  in  1870,  I  think. 

The  conductors  of  that  time  have  all  passed  on,  so  far  as  I  can 
find  out.  Still,  railroad  men  reappear  sometimes,  and  there  may 
be  some  living  to-day,  John  Coombs  was  conductor  of  the  traia 
we  brought  into  Boston  the  afternoon  of  February  12,  1877;  Tom 
French  and  I,  and  George  Lunt  was  baggage-master;  John  Esta- 
brook  was  conductor  of  the  7  a.  m.  train  for  Lowell  when  I  started 
out  on  February  13,  and  Ed.  Barrett  was  baggage-master  and  pilot. 
John  and  I  ran  together  until  he  was  taken  sick  October  15,  1885. 
I  had  one  or  two  different  conductors  for  a  time,  and  then  had  Ed. 
Barrett  for  a  long  time  as  regular  conductor.  John  Estabrook  rode 
once  with  us  after  the  interlocking  was  installed  at  Wilmington 
Junction.  He  died  on  April  30,  1886.  A  nice  man  to  run  with. 
Harris  Amazeen  was  the  conductor  on  the  2.30  p.  m.  to  Lowell.  We 
got  along  well  together,  and  I  can  see  him  now  at  Lowell  Junction 
giving  the  motion  and  shouting  out,  "All  right,  Ed.,  go  ahead,  stop 
at  the  poorhouse  and  the  graveyard" — Tewksbury  and  Cemetery. 

Single  track  over  the  Lowell  branch  then.  ''Trains  from  Lowell 
have  right  of  way  over  trains  to  Lowell  ten  minutes  after  their  reg- 
ular time  of  departure,  and  trains  to  Lowell  can  use  five  minutes  of 
the  ten."  How  we  used  to  sail  the  train  to  make  the  double  iron 
over  the  bridge  crossing  the  Concord  River  down  into  the  Central 
Street  station.  After  Harris  Amazeen  got  through  I  had  George 
Stone  and  "Captain"  Kicker  for  running  mates.  The  old-time  men 
were  all  right,  but  had  their  peculiarities.  Joe  Amazeen  and  Orrin 
Hamilton,  running  Portland  trains,  used  to  sport  tall  hats  and  ruffled 
shirt-bosoms.  Albert  Hamilton,  on  the  Medford  train,  was  not 
quite  so  sporty  as  his  brother.  William  Plaistad,  Ned  Weymouth 
and  George  Wyatt  were  quieter  men.  William  Carter  and  Skinner 
were  on  the  Reading  trains.  Some  of  the  names  of  the  old  conduc- 
tors can  be  found  as  far  back  as  1849,  Ansel  Tucker  among  the 
passenger  conductors  and  Hollis  Smart  freight  conductor,  |50  and 
$45  a  month.  Hollis  Smart  was  a  passenger  conductor  in  1851,  at 
$50  a  month,  and  M.  E.  Wood  appears  on  the  list.  He  was  in 
charge  of  Haymarket  Square  station  in  1877.     The  name  of  William 


62  THE   BOSTON   AND   MAINE   RAILROAD 

Smith  appears  as  engineman  in  1851,  $55  a  month.  He  was  engine 
dispatcher  in  1877,  later  master  mechanic  and  superintendent  of 
motive  power;  died  in  February,  1892. 

And  so,  as  the  years  pass  by,  we  find  new  names  creeping  in, 
and  in  May,  1857,  Orrin  Hamilton  and  William  T.  Plaisted  were 
conducting  trains,  at  a  salary  of  •'$58.33  1-3  a  month.  Augustus 
Colby,  assistant  to  M.  E.  Wood,  used  to  run  as  conductor  on  the 
Sunday  train  to  Haverhill;  two  trains  Sundays  in  1877,  the  train 
from  Great  Falls  in  the  morning,  returning  at  6  p.  m.,  the  8  a.  m. 
to  Haverhill  leaving  on  the  return  trip  at  5.25  p.  m.,  due  in  Boston 
7  p.  m.  Any  passengers  for  Boston  along  the  line  took  that  train 
home  or  stayed  all  night. 

The  locomotives  were  small  when  I  came  here  to  this  road.  The 
Portland  No.  2,  built  in  1842,  delivered  to  the  road  on  March  16, 
thirteen  tons  weight,  cylinders  llf  x20,  with  one  pair  of  drivers, 
was  doing  passenger  switching  in  Boston.  There  was  a  time  when 
she  hauled  an  express  train.  Newburyport  No.  29,  23  tons,  cylin- 
ders 14x22,  built  about  1860,  the  first  locomotive  I  handled  here,  at 
one  time  before  I  came  to  the  road  every  third  week  used  to  make 
158  miles  a  day.  Reading  to  Boston,  Boston  to  Newburyport  and 
return,  eight-car  train,  6  p.m.;  Boston  to  Lawrence,  four  stops, 
forty-two  minutes;  Lawrence  to  Boston,  Boston  to  Reading,  and 
put  up.  Elbridge  Smith,  now  living  in  Reading,  seventy -eight  years 
of  age,  was  the  engineer. 

I  think  I  had  better  stop  my  chatter.  Of  the  boys  who  came  here 
with  me  in  February,  1877,  but  one  remains  in  active  service,  E.  I. 
Tucker.     Not  many  more  years  for  him  now. 

I  wish  in  closing  to  thank  you,  and  through  you  all  in  the  passen- 
ger department  who  have  so  kindly  borne  with  me  while  we  have 
been  co-laborers  in  the  service  of  the  Boston  «&  Maine. 

Hoping  that,  while  my  name  has  disappeared  from  the  list  of 
enginemen,  some  may  still  remember  the  "Deacon,"   I  remain, 

Sincerely  yours, 

J.  E.  Alger. 

While  on  the  subject  of  reminiscences,  the  following 
little  poem  may  be  found  amusins^,  for,  with  many  apolo- 
gies, it  refers  to  South  J^erwick  Junction,  Maine.  In  the 
early  1870's,  when  the  "war"  between  the  Eastern  and 
Boston  and  Maine  roads  was  at  its  height,  the  former 
company,  which  then  controlled  the  Portland,  Saco  and 
Portsmouth  R.  li.,  refused  to  wait  for  the  B.  and  M.  cars 
at  South  Berwick  Junction,  unless  "they  were  in  sight  or 


BY  FRANCIS  B.   C.   BRADLEE 


6S 


whistle  heard."  Hence  many  annoying  delays  occurred 
to  innocent  passengers.  The  newspapers  of  the  time 
teem  with  letters  of  protest  from  indignant  travellers. 

AT  A  RAILROAD  JUNCTION. 

BY   EDMUND   VANOE    COOKE. 

Lo  !  Here  am  I  at  Junction  Town  ! 
At  slow  and  woeful  Junction  Town, 
Where  devils  laugh  and  angels  frown 
To  see  a  traveller  set  down; 
Where  trains  run  only  with  a  view 
To  help  a  restaurant  or  two; 
Where  rusty  rails  and  barren  boards 
Are  all  the  point  of  view  affords. 
But  O,  the  barren  board  of  all 
Is  that  within  that  eating-stall  ! 
Yes,  stall,  I  said,  and  well  deserved 
The  name  !  where  beastly  feed  is  served. 
And  so  I  say  without  compunction 
My  curses  on  this  Railroad  Junction. 

What  shall  I  do  at  Junction  Town  ? 
At  drear  and  weary  Junction  Town  ? 
The  martyr's  cross  without  the  crown 
Awaits  the  stranger  here  set  down. 

O,  one  may  wait  and  wait  and  wait, 

Or  one  may  sail  against  his  fate, 

Or  eyes  and  ears  may  strain  and  strain, 

As  later,  later  grows  the  train. 

The  while  the  lagging  minutes  mock 

His  witless  watching  of  the  clock; 

Or  one  may  watch  the  station  clerk 

Performing  his  relentless  work. 

O,  wretched  man,  of  wretched  function, 

Existing  at  this  Railroad  Junction. 

God's  pity  on  this  Junction  Town, 
This  dead  and  dreadful  Junction  Town  ! 
O,  what  nepenthe-well  can  drown 
The  cares  of  travellers  here  set  down  ? 
The  thought  may  give  some  passing  cheer, 
One  may  escape  within  a  year, 
Or  else  the  sentence  be  commuted 


'64  THE   BOSTON   AND   MAINE   RAILROAD 

And  only  death  be  executed  ! 
And  if't  be  so,  I  only  pray 
There  be  no  Resurrection  Day, 
For  think  of  Gabriel  coming  down 
And  finding  one  at  Junction  Town  ! 
And  so  I  say  with  fervent  unction, 
God's  pity  on  this  Railroad  Junction  ! 

Early  in  the  1880's  important  changes  took  place  in  the 
management  of  the  Boston  and  Maine;  new  interests 
entered  the  directory,  and  then  began  the  policy  which 
converted  this  small  railroad  controlling  barely  two  hun- 
dred miles  of  track  into  a  system  comprising  4,250  miles. 
For  a  long  time  it  had  been  felt  that  if  the  three  railroads 
running  in  the  same  direction  on  the  northern  side  of 
Boston — the  Eastern,  Boston  and  Maine  and  Boston  and 
Lowell — could  be  consolidated  into  one  corporation,  it 
would  secure  a  fair  dividend  to  its  stockholders,  while 
saving  to  the  community  two-thirds  of  the  cost  required 
to  maintain  triplicate  equipments  and  boards  of  directors. 
Unfortunately,  instead  of  the  wise  policy  of  one  corpo- 
ration mentioned  above,  the  system  of  leases  was  adopted 
in  the  various  consolidations,  and  eventually  the  whole 
question  became  inextricably  mixed  up  with  Massachu- 
setts and  New  Hampshire  politics — some  of  it  of  a  not 
very  high  order — and  that,  with  financial  jobbery,  was  par- 
tially responsible  for  the  present  practically  bankrupt 
condition  of  the  Boston  and  Maine. 

When  the  consolidation  of  the  Eastern  and  Boston  and 
Maine  roads  was  first  talked  of  it  was  generally  assumed 
that  the  Eastern  would  take  the  lead  and  logically  it 
should  have  done  so,  but  the  Boston  and  Maine  was  then 
much  stronger  financially.  The  lease  was  to  have  taken 
effect  in  October,  1883,  but  the  whole  project  was  bit- 
terly fought  by  the  minority  stockholders  of  the  Eastern. 
They  carried  the  matter  befoi-e  the  Massachusetts  Supreme 
Court,  which  deemed  the  proposed  lease  invalid  owing  to 
a  technicality.  The  next  year  a  new  lease,  running  for 
fifty-four  years  and  conforming  to  the  opinion  of  the 
court,  was  agreed  upon  by  the  directors  and  approved  by 
the  stockholders  of  both  roads,  and  on  December  2,  188'1, 


BOSTON,  CONCORD  AND   MONTREAL  RAILROAD 

LOCOMOTIVE  "mT.  WASHINGTON,"   NO.  29 

Built  in  the  I  870'»  to  draw  train»  to  base  of  Mt.  Wathirgton 


BY   FRANCIS    B.    C.   BRADLEE  65 

the  property  was  handed  over  to  the  lessee.  Under  the 
terms  of  the  lease  the  Boston  and  Maine  was  to  assume 
all  the  liabilities  of  the  Eastern.  The  profits  were  to  be 
divided  pro  rata  between  the  two  roads.  No  dividends 
were  guaranteed  on  the  Eastern  stock.  While  the  lease 
was  ratified,  twelve  to  one,  by  the  Boston  and  Maine 
stockholders,  it  was  only  accepted  by  a  five  to  one  vote 
of  the  Eastern  stockholders.  It  had  always  been  the 
intention  of  those  at  the  head  of  both  roads  that  they 
eventually  should  be  unified,  the  lease  being  considered  a 
mere  stepping-stone  to  that  effect.  Accordingly,  in  1888, 
the  required  legislation  was  secured  in  Massachusetts, 
New  Hampshire  and  Maine,  and  on  May  9,  1890,  the 
Eastern  Railroad  Company  passed  out  of  existence  as  a 
corporate  body. 

The  stock  was  taken  over  on  the  basis  of  one  share  of 
Eastern  for  83.28  per  cent,  of  Boston  and  Maine  stock, 
and  the  Portsmouth,  Great  Falls  and  Conway  road  was 
taken  over  on  the  same  terms.  By  this  consolidation  and 
for  other  purposes,  the  Boston  and  Maine's  capital  was 
increased  to  118,738,300,  and  a  special  stock  dividend  of 
114.68  per  share  was  paid  May  24,  1890. 

In  1885,  the  year  after  the  taking  over  of  the  Eastern 
Railroad  by  the  Boston  and  Maine,  that  company  also 
leased  the  Worcester,  Nashua  and  Rochester  Railroad  for 
fifty  years,  at  a  rental  of  $250,000  per  annum.  The 
reason  given  for  this  further  consolidation  was  that  the 
line  of  the  Worcester,  Nashua  and  Rochester  paralleled 
for  some  distance  the  main  road  of  the  Boston  and  Maine, 
but  the  transaction  was  a  very  good  thing  for  the  "in- 
siders" who  were  understood  to  have  been  identified  with 
the  Boston  and  Maine  management  of  that  day  and  who 
had  acquired  the  Worcester,  Nashua  and  Rochester  stock 
at  very  low  prices.  This  lease  occasioned  a  great  deal 
of  discussion,  and  there  was  some  legislative  inquiry, 
which,  however,  did  not  disturb  the  equanimity  of  those 
who  had  benefitted  by  the  transaction  that  involved  a 
stock  dividend.  However,  the  value  of  the  acquisition  to 
the  Boston  and  Maine  was  so  problematical  that  not  a 
few  shrewd  observers  predicted  that  it  would  be  a  case  of 
loss  offsetting  victory. 


66  THE  BOSTON   AND   MAINE   RAILROAD 

In  1887,  the  Boston  and  Lowell  Railroad  had  grown 
from  a  small  line  twenty-six  miles  long  to  be  one  of  the 
large  systems  of  New  England ;  in  fact,  at  this  time  it 
was  generally  referred  to  as  the  "Lowell  System."  By  a 
system  of  leases  its  managers  had  endeavored  to  obtain 
possession  of  a  complete  line  between  Boston  and  Mon- 
treal, a  project  which,  in  its  main  features,  seemed  likely 
to  succeed,  until  the  New  Hampshire  Supreme  Court 
broke  it  up,  early  in  1887,  by  refusing  to  ratify  the  lease 
of  the  Northern  Railroad  of  New  Hampshire  to  the  Bos- 
ton and  Lowell.  Thereupon,  the  directors  of  the  Lowell 
road  proposed  a  lease  of  their  line  and  its  allied  roads  to 
the  management  of  the  Boston  and  Maine,  as  they  thought 
that  the  latter,  by  means  of  their  already  existing  leases 
and  contracts  with  other  companies,  would  be  better  able 
than  they  to  affect  a  consolidation  of  the  "upper"  roads. 
The  lease  was  ratified  by  the  stockholders  of  both  lines, 
and  took  effect  in  June,  1887,  but  dated  back  to  the  pre- 
vious April.  It  was  to  run  for  ninety-nine  years  ;  the 
Boston  and  Lowell  stockholders  were  guaranteed  dividends 
at  the  rate  of  seven  per  cent,  yearly  until  1897,  and  after 
that  at  the  rate  of  eight  per  cent.  The  Boston  and  Low- 
ell corporation  was  to  assume  the  responsibility  of  its  own 
leases. 

This  consolidation  left  practically  only  two  independent 
railroads  of  any  size  in  New  Hampshire  ;  the  Concord 
road  between  Nashua  and  Concord  and  in  which  the  State 
of  New  Hampshire  owned  an  interest,  and  the  Boston, 
Concord  and  Montreal  road,  which  itself  was  controlled 
by  the  Concord  Railroad.  In  September,  1889,  both  these 
corporations  were  united  in  one  new  one,  called  the  Con- 
cord and  Montreal  Railroad.  This  road  did  not  fall  into 
the  Boston  and  Maine  "maw"  until  1895. 

The  late  eighties  and  early  nineties  were,  in  fact,  an 
exceptionally  interesting  period  in  the  history  of  this  rail- 
road property.  There  were  various  changes  in  large 
blocks  of  stock,  a  number  of  new  influences,  from  time 
to  time,  being  projected  into  the  enterprise.  The  man- 
agement was  subjected  to  a  good  deal  of  contemporary 
criticism,  and  even  to-day  is  subject  to  not  a  little  cen- 
sure, though  some  of  the    most   prominent   figures  have 


BY   FRANCIS   B.   C.   BRADLEE  67 

long  since  departed  from  the  stage.  But  after  everything 
is  said,  the  fact  remains  that  it  was  at  that  time  that  the 
Boston  and  Maine  emerged  from  a  state  of  parochialism 
into  one  of  national  importance. 

It  was  in  1892-3  that  the  late  A.  A.  McLeod,  a  well- 
known  Wall  street  speculator,  had  a  short  but  well  re- 
membered career  in  New  England  railroading.  He  had 
gotten  control  of  the  old  New  York  and  New  England 
Railroad,  always  in  a  state  of  chronic  bankruptcy.  He 
4ilso  made  himself  the  president  of  the  Boston  and  Maine, 
and  proposed  a  scheme  which  should  give  Boston  new 
connections  with  the  West, — with  these  roads  as  the 
means,  and  using  the  Poughkeepsie  bridge.  Mr.  McLeod 
was  not  so  powerful  as  the  New  York,  New  Haven  and 
Hartford  Railroad,  then  just  beginning  to  stretch  its  arras 
•outside  of  its  domain,  the  State  of  Connecticut.  Before 
he  could  develop  his  plan,  Mr.  McLeod  went  down  before 
reorganization,  and  from  the  flurry  there  emerged  bond- 
holders producing  the  New  England  Railroad  in  1895, 
with  the  New  York  and  New  Haven  owning  the  bonds. 
In  1898,  the  New  Haven  leased  the  road,  but  since  that 
nearly  all  the  stock  had  been  exchanged,  so  to-day  the 
old  "narrow  escape"  road,  as  it  was  always  nicknamed, 
has  not  the  semblance  of  individuality.  Mr.  McLeod's 
dream  of  1893  has  been  realized  by  the  New  Haven, 
through  its  ownership  of  the  New  England  Railroad  and 
the  Poughkeepsie  bridge  route. 

The  most  spectacular  accomplishment  of  Mr.  McLeod 
was  the  capture  by  the  Boston  and  Maine  of  the  Connec- 
ticut River  Railroad  in  1892.  This  corporation,  with  a 
paying  property  and  a  surplus  of  $1,000,000  in  the  treas- 
ury, was  coveted  by  the  New  York  and  New  Haven.  The 
directors  of  that  road  had  completed  an  arrangement  with 
the  Connecticut  River  board,  whereby  the  line  was  to  be 
leased  to  the  New  Haven,  which  only  needed  ratification 
by  the  stockholders,  and  this  had  been  apparently  assured. 
Three  or  four  days  before  the  Connecticut  River  stock- 
holders' meeting,  Mr.  McLeod  and  a  party  of  influential 
friends  canvassed  the  owners  of  the  Connecticut  River 
road  and  gathered  up  a  control  of  the  shares.     They  took 


68  THE   BOSTON   AND  MAINE   RAILROAD 

it  from  the  extended  hand  of  the  New  Haven  and  secured 
it  to  the  Boston  and  Maine  on  a  ten  per  cent,  rental,  with 
the  $1,000,000  surplus  divided  among  the  shareholders. 
The  New  Haven  people  never  forgave  McLeod  for  liis 
eoup,  and  they  punished  him  by  ousting  him  from  the  New 
York  and  New  England,  and  later  used  their  influence  in 
retiring  him  from  the  presidency  of  the  Boston  and 
Maine.  The  late  Lucius  Tuttle  succeeded  him  in  that 
office  and  managed  to  steer  the  Boston  and  Maine  success- 
fully through  the  lean  years  that  followed  the  panic  of 
1893  ;  in  fact,  in  one  of  the  annual  reports  issued  during 
the  hard  times,  Mr.  Tuttle  declared  that  the  leased  lines 
were  earning  their  rentals,  a  significant  statement  consid- 
ering the  acute  conditions  then  prevailing. 

With  the  acquisition  of  the  Boston  and  Lowell  system, 
the  Boston  and  Maine  fell  heir  to  the  political  contest  in 
New  Hampshire,  with  the  Concord  and  Montreal  Railroad 
as  an  opponent ;  finally,  however,  the  latter  succumbed, 
and  in  1895  was  leased  to  the  Boston  and  Maine  for 
ninety-nine  years,  at  seven  per  cent,  annual  rental. 

Having  absorbed  all  the  connecting  lines  in  New  Hamp- 
shire, the  Boston  and  Maine  in  1900  was  ready  for  more 
aggression  in  Massachusetts,  and  after  a  spirited  opposi- 
tion, took  over  the  Fitchburg  Railroad  under  a  lease 
guaranteeing  five  per  cent,  dividends  on  the  latter's  pre- 
ferred stock.  The  opponents  of  the  lease  asserted,  with 
a  good  deal  of  reason,  that  the  Boston  and  Maine  as  a 
monopoly  had  for  some  time  been  a  deterrent  to  commer- 
cial enterprises  in  its  territory,  charging  higher  passenger 
and  freight  rates  than  the  Fitchburg  did  as  an  independent 
road.  It  was  also  shown  that  the  Boston  and  Maine  had 
done  little  or  nothing  towards  developing  the  foreign  ex- 
port trade  of  Boston ;  the  Fitchburg,  a  small  road  com- 
pared to  its  competitor,  had  itself  contributed  no  less 
than  fifty-nine  per  cent,  of  the  foreign  exports  from 
Boston. 

With  the  lease  of  the  Fitchburg  to  the  Boston  and 
Maine,  the  State  of  Massachusetts  straightened  out  its 
affairs  as  an  owner  of  railroads,  for  the  Commonwealth 
held  practically  all  the  common  stock  of  the  Fitchburg 
Railroad,  issued  in  payment  for  the    Hoosac  Tunnel  and 


BY    FRANCIS    B.    C.    BRADLEE  69 

the  Troy  and  Greenfield  Railroad.  The  original  Fitch- 
burg  Railroad,  upon  its  purchase  of  the  franchise  of  the 
Charlestovvn  Branch  Railroad,  from  Boston  to  West  Cam- 
bridge, was  constructed  to  the  city  which  gave  it  its  cor- 
porate designation  ;  it  was  opened  to  Waltham  in  1842, 
and  completed  in  its  entire  length  in  1845. 

As  a  part  of  the  low  grade  through  road  across  the 
State,  the  Vermont  and  Massachusetts  was  built  from 
Fitchburg  to  Greenfield,  but  as  the  Hoosac  mountain  was 
an  apparently  impenetrable  barrier  to  a  complete  line,  the 
Vermont  and  Massachusetts  was  built  to  Brattleboro, 
Vermont.  As  soon  as  the  opening  of  the  Hoosac  tunnel 
was  imminent,  the  Fitchburg  leased  the  Vermont  and 
Massachusetts  in  1874,  and  with  it  secured  rights  through, 
the  tunnel  with  several  other  companies.  Soon  afterward 
the  section  of  the  road  from  Miller's  Falls  to  Brattleboro, 
Vermont,  was  sold  to  the  New  London  Northern  Rail- 
road. 

A  company  of  men  in  1848  took  up  the  Hoosac  Tunnel 
project,  which  had  been  agitated  periodically  since  1825, 
when  it  was  proposed  to  bore  through  the  range  for  a 
canal.  The  Troy  and  Greenfield  Railroad  was  the  corpo- 
rate name  of  the  tunnel  road,  and  from  1848  until  1887 
there  was  hardly  a  session  of  the  Massachusetts  Legisla- 
ture which  did  not  consider  some  action  affecting  this 
road.  The  State  made  its  first  advance  to  the  Troy  and 
Greenfield  in  1854,  and  time  and  again  more  money  was 
furnished  until  the  work  was  abandoned  by  the  contrac- 
tors, whose  ingenuity  and  resources  failed  to  pierce  the 
rock.  In  1862,  after  being  refused  what  was  considered 
a  reasonable  demand,  the  stockholders  of  the  Troy  and 
Greenfield  finally  gave  up  the  task  and  abandoned  the 
road.  The  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  which  had 
advanced  1778,695,  took  possession.  At  that  time  the 
road  had  been  practically  constructed  from  Greenfield  to 
the  east  entrance  of  the  tunnel  and  from  the  west  side  of 
the  Hoosac  mountain  to  the  Vermont  State  line.  The 
State  inherited  the  Southern  Vermont  Railroad,  which 
traversed  the  southwest  corner  of  Vermont  to  connect 
with  the  Troy  and  Greenfield. 


70  THE   BOSTON   AND   MAINE  BAILROAD 

State  millions  rehabilitated  the  railroad,  the  Southern 
Vermont  was  leased  to  the  Troy  and  Boston — a  new  cor- 
poration formed  to  operate  the  old  Troy  and  Greenfield 
road — in  perpetuity,  for  a  rental  of  il2,000  annually,  and 
trains  were  operated  on  both  sides  of  the  mountain,  pas- 
sengers being  driven  over  the  summit  in  stage-coaches  to 
make  connections.  In  1868,  the  Shanlys,  a  Montreal  con- 
tracting firm,  undertook  the  completion  of  the  tunnel, 
and  on  November  27,  1873,  daylight  penetrated  through 
the  hole  in  the  mountains.  About  a  year  latei- the  tunnel 
was  ready  for  trains,  and  with  a  State  manager, — Jeremiah 
Prescott,  formerly  superintendent  of  the  Eastern  Rail- 
road,— to  maintain  the  property  and  handle  its  movement 
of  trains,  the  Fitchburg,  Troy  and  Boston,  Boston,  Hoo- 
sac  Tunnel  and  Western,  and  the  New  Haven  and  North- 
ampton Railroads  paid  tolls  sufficient  to  meet  expenses 
and  the  interest,  and,  in  part,  the  sinking  fund  of  the  debt 
of  nearly  |14,000,000  which  the  State  had  incurred.  The 
Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  ran  the  road  in  this 
fashion  until  1887,  when  the  Fitchburg  absorbed  the 
Boston,  Hoosac  Tunnel  and  Western,  whose  road  ran 
from  Rotterdam  Junction,  N.  Y.,  to  the  Vermont  and 
Massachusetts  line,  and  the  Troy  and  Boston,  and  pur- 
chased the  State-owned  Troy  and  Greenfield.  The  Fitch- 
burg Railroad,  in  payment  for  the  Troy  and  Greenfield 
and  the  Hoosac  Tunnel,  issued  to  the  State  $5,000,000  in 
fifty-year  bonds  and  -15,000,000  in  common  stock,  which 
latter  paid  no  dividends. 

In  1900,  upon  the  lease  of  the  Fitchburg,  the  Boston 
and  Maine  bought  the  common  stock  from  the  State,  and 
Massachusetts  then  became  only  a  bondholder.  It  was 
during  this  period  that  such  outside  interests  as  the  Pull- 
man Company  and  the  American  Express  Company  ac- 
quired large  holdings  in  the  Boston  and  Maine.  This  fact 
is  also  of  more  than  academic  interest,  as  it  was  the 
American  Express  Company's  holdings  that  the  New 
York,  New  Haven  and  Hartford  acquired,  when,  in  1907, 
it  beijan  to  secure  control  of  the  Boston  and  Maine. 
During  the  first  few  years  of  the  present  century,  also, 
the  railroad  brotherhoods,  hitherto  a  negligible  quantity 
in  New  England,  began  to  press    for    and  receive  higher 


EASTERN    RAILROAD   LOCOMOTIVE   "CONWAY' 
at  Old   Orchard    Station,    Maine 


HOOSAC  TUNNEL  UNDER  CONSTRUCTION,    1871 


BY    FRANCIS    B.    C.    BRADLEE  71 

wages  and  better  working  conditions.  This  added  ex- 
pense, together  with  the  almost  crushing  dead  weight  of 
the  rentals  of  the  leased  roads,  soon  began  to  tell  on  the 
Boston  and  Maine  and  was  reflected  in  the  stock  market 
by  the  constant  decrease  in  the  value  of  its  stock.  Tt  was 
then  that  the  management  may  be  said  to  have  committed 
its  greatest  error ;  instead  of  reducing  or  altogether  pass- 
ing its  seven  per  cent,  dividend  on  the  common  stock  and 
putting  most  of  its  earnings  in  the  up-keep  of  the  road, 
which  sadly  needed  the  same,  the  usual  interest  was  kept 
up  long  after  ordinary  prudence  should  have  dictated  its 
reduction.  How  much  the  late  President  Tuttle  was  re- 
sponsible for  this  state  of  things  is  a  debatable  question. 
However,  for  years  the  spectacle  was  witnessed  of  worn- 
out  equipment  vieing  with  an  equally  "  gone  to  seed  " 
road  bed.  Even  some  of  the  principal  bridges  and  trestles 
on  the  system  were  a  constant  source  of  jokes  to  the  in- 
itiated that  would  have  been  very  funny  indeed  had 
there  not  existed  so  many  tragic  possibilities. 

Another  feature  which  has  always  characterized  the 
Boston  and  Maine  is  the  extremely  old-fashioned  way  in 
which  the  road  was  operated  practically.  As  other  rail- 
roads were  taken  over  by  it  and  run  as  divisions,  the 
operating  rules  in  force  when  the  particular  road  was  run 
independently  were  generally  retained.  Sometimes  these 
conflicted  with  rules  used  on  other  parts  of  the  Boston 
and  Maine  system,  with  resultant  confusion.  For  exam- 
ple, on  the  Fitchburg  Railroad  a  white  light  was  used  for 
safety,  but  on  the  Boston  and  Maine  a  green  signal  meant 
safety.  When  the  Fitchburg  was  taken  over  in  1900,  the 
Boston  and  Maine  made  no  changre,  so  that  for  some 
years  a  most  dangerous  condition  of  affairs  existed,  par- 
ticularly at  Boston,  Greenfield,  Bellows  Falls,  and  other 
places  where  the  two  lines  were  interwoven.  Until  after 
the  terrible  Baker's  Bridge  accident  on  the  Fitchburg 
division,  in  October,  1905,  when  an  express  ran  into  a 
slowly  moving  accommodation  train,  with  the  loss  of  many 
lives,  block  signals  were  practically  unknown  on  the  Bos- 
ton and  Maine  system,  except,  perhaps,  when  nearing 
Boston.  It  may  be  conceded  that  nowadays  many  trains, 
particularly  passenger  trains,  are  over-manned,  but  twen- 


72  THE   BOSTON   AND   MAINE   KAILROAD 

ty  or  more  years  ago  many  of  the  Boston  and  Maine 
passenger  trains  were  as  badly  under-manned.  The 
author  can  testify  to  the  fact  tliat,  in  1901,  he  was  on  a 
long  passenger  train,  far  behind  time,  and  when  nearing 
Boston,  close  to  the  old  Boston  and  Maine  paint  shop  in 
Charlestown,  then  considered  one  of  the  most  dangerous 
spots  on  the  road,  the  train  was  for  some  reason  stopped. 
The  only  brakeman  had  been  sent  back  with  a  danger 
signal  some  time  before.  Another  following  train  was 
close  behind,  and  there  seemed  to  be  no  one  at  hand  to 
■warn  it,  when  the  American  Express  messenger  seized  a 
red  flag  and  ran  back  as  fast  as  he  could  and  was  believed 
to  have  averted  a  bad  collision.  The  phrase  so  often 
heard,  "Boston  and  Maine  luck,"  may  be  said  to  signify 
a  good  deal  more  than  is  implied  by  the  empty  words. 

In  1907,  occurred  the  event  which  in  the  last  few  years 
has  been  discussed  more  than  any  other  in  connection 
with  Boston  and  Maine  affairs, — namely,  the  purchase  of 
the  control  of  the  Boston  and  Maine  by  the  New  York, 
New  Haven  and  Hartford.  It  is  needless  to  discuss  this 
transaction  at  length,  as  the  particulars  are  still  fresh  in 
the  public  mind.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that  under  an 
agreement  with  the  Department  of  Justice  of  the  United 
States,  it  was  arranged  for  the  New  Haven  Company  to 
transfer  to  five  trustees  its  holdings  in  the  Boston  and 
Maine,  which  had  been  previously  segregated  into  a  cor- 
poration known  as  the  Boston  Railroad  Holding  Company, 
to  be  sold  under  the  order  of  the  court.  These  holdings 
consist  of  6,543  shares  of  the  preferred  stock  and  219,189 
shares  of  the  common  stock  of  the  Boston  and  Maine 
Railroad. 

The  legality  of  the  New  Haven's  purchase  and  its  ad- 
visability from  the  point  of  view  of  public  interest  have 
been  hotly  debated.  There  existed,  also,  a  bitter  and 
fast-growing  feeling  of  discontent  throughout  New  Eng- 
land that  almost  its  entire  transportation  system  should 
be  under  the  control  of  New  York  capitalists.  On  Feb- 
ruary 7,  1914,  the  United  States  Senate  passed  a  resolu- 
tion authorizing  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  to 
investigate  and  report  upon  the  financial  transactions  of 
the  New  York,    New  Haven  and  Hartford  Railroad  Com- 


BY  FRANCIS  B.   C.   BRADLEE  73 

pany.  The  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  reported 
that  the  purchase  of  Boston  and  Maine  control  by  the 
New  Haven  was  illegal  under  the  Massachusetts  laws, 
and,  without  serious  doubt,  under  the  Federal  anti-trust 
law. 

As  regards  the  purchase  from  the  point  of  view  of 
public  interest,  it  was  shown  that  the  downward  move- 
ment of  the  Boston  and  Maine  stock  did  not  begin  seri- 
ously until  the  New  Haven  management  was  forced  upon 
the  road ;  that  the  depreciation  of  the  Boston  and  Maine 
stock  after  coming  into  control  of  the  New  Haven  was 
rapid ;  that  "the  financial  strength  of  the  Boston  and 
Maine,  which  had  been  made  manifest  for  more  than  half 
a  century  [there  seems  reason  to  doubt  the  entire  cor- 
rectness of  the  latter  statement,  especially  as  applied  to 
later  years],  was  converted  into  financial  weakness  in  half 
a  decade  after  passing  into  the  control  of  men  who  had 
the  reputation  of  being  eminent  financiers ;"  that  the 
management  of  the  Boston  and  Maine  by  the  New  Haven 
was  unwise,  beginning  in  illegality  and  in  a  lust  for  ex- 
tended monopoly,  and  resulting  in  great  depreciation  and 
serious  impairment  of  credit.  It  would  be  an  interesting 
task  to  examine  these  statements  carefully  and  minutely 
in  the  light  of  the  previous  history  of  the  road. 

In  the  meantime  had  come  the  financial  crash  of  the 
New  Haven  system,  which  dragged  the  Boston  and  Maine 
down  with  it,  resulting  in  the  demoralization  of  trans- 
portation and  the  ruin  and  distress  of  many  persons  here- 
tofore in  comfortable  circumstances  all  over  New  Eng- 
land. Mr.  Charles  S.  Mellen  of  the  New  Haven,  who 
had  succeeded  Mr.  Tuttle  in  1909  as  president  of  the 
Boston  and  Maine,  retired  in  1913,  and  his  place  was 
taken,  for  a  short  time,  by  Mr.  James  McDonald,  presi- 
dent of  the  Maine  Central  Railroad,  and  a  few  months 
later  Mr.  James  H.  Hustis  was  elected  president.  Mat- 
ters soon  went  from  bad  to  worse,  and  it  became  increas- 
ingly evident  that  the  road  would  be  unable  in  the  long 
run  to  pay  its  enormous  burden  of  guaranteed  dividends 
to  the  leased  lines.  In  the  case  of  a  break-up  of  the  Bos- 
ton and  Maine  system  there  was  much  speculation  about 
the  Boston  and  Lowell  Railroad  becoming  once  more  inde- 


74  THE   BOSTON   AND   MAINE   RAILROAD 

pendent.  In  fact,  this  road,  with  its  leases  of  a  through 
line  to  Canada,  its  ownership  of  forty  per  cent,  of  the 
Boston  Union  Station,  the  East  Cambridge  freight  termi- 
nals, and  the  Mystic  wharf  property,  was  rather  consid- 
ered to  have  been  the  "tail  which  wagged  the  dog." 

During  the  first  years  of  the  European  war  and  before 
this  country  entered  the  struggle,  business  recovered  from 
the  depression  of  1913-14  and  an  era   of  good    times  set 
in,  in  which    the    railroads    participated.     In  the  twelve 
months  ending  in  August,  1916,  the  Boston    and    Maine, 
in  spite  of  its  heavily  waterlogged  condition,  earned  9.81 
per  cent,  on  its  common  stock,    against  less  than  nothing 
the  year  before.     Several  schemes  of  reorganization  were 
brought  forward,  but,  as  often,  came  to  nothing,  owing  to 
the  attitude  of  the  leased  roads,  which  refused  to    accept 
a  reduced  rental,  and    in    the   meantime  the  Boston  and 
Maine  had,  by  order  of  the    court,    lost    its    fifty-one  per 
cent,  stock  control    of  the    Maine    Central    Railroad,  ac- 
quired as  far  back  as  1885,  when  they  had  taken  over  the 
Eastern  Railroad.     Finally,  as    the    best   way  out  of  an 
apparently  hopeless  situation,  the  Boston  and  Maine  Rail- 
road was,  on  August  23, 1916,  petitioned  into  bankruptcy 
by  the  Intercontinental  Rubber  Company  of  New  Jersey. 
The  court  appointed  President  James  H.  Hustis  receiver. 
It  was  generally  expected  that    the    leased  lines'  divi- 
dends would  be  at  once   reduced,    but   it    was  not  found 
expedient  to  do  this.    Then  came  the  entry  of  the  United 
States  into  the  war,  followed  by  the  period  of  government 
operation  of  the  railroads,    which  certainly  did   not  tend 
to  the  improvement   of  the    Boston    and    Maine  system. 
Towards  the  end  of  the  government  control,   the  present 
plan  of  Boston  and  Maine  reorganization  was,  after  many 
delays,  finally  accepted  and  put   through.     This   scheme, 
which  met  with  Director-General  McAdoo's  approval  and 
co-operation,  was,  briefly,    as   follows :     The  Boston  and 
Maine  was  to  be  consolidated   into    one    compact  system, 
eliminating  many  of  the  leased  lines :  stockholders  of  the 
leased  lines  were  given  the  right  to  exchange    their  hold- 
ings into  preferred  stock  of  the  Boston  and  Maine  proper, 
which  bears  four-fifths  of  the  dividend  rate  formerly  paid 
ou  the  leased-line  stocks,  for  the  next  five  years,  and  the 


PORTLAND,  SACO  AND  PORTSMOUTH   RAILROAD   LOCOMOTIVE  "SCARBOROUGH" 
Built  by  the  Portland  Local  Works  in  I  87  I 


LOCOMOTIVE  "GEN.  GRANT  " 
Built  by  the  Manchester  Locomotive  Works  in   I  867 


BY   FRANCIS    B.   C.    BRADLEE  75 

full  dividend  rate  thereafter.  It  is  believed  that  this  will 
reduce  the  fixed  charges  upon  the  system  by  $2,500,000 
per  annum,  laying  a  foundation  for  the  flotation  of  a  new 
mortgage,  securing,  on  equal  terms,  all  outstanding  bonds 
and  notes,  and  providing  a  good  margin  of  safety  for  new 
issues.  The  Government  will  advance  $20,000,000  in 
cash,  meanwhile,  and  a  further  issue  of  $12,000,000  pre- 
ferred may  be  raised  during  the  next  five  years  to  repay 
the  amount  now  advanced.  This  plan  was  agreed  to  by 
a  very  large  majority  of  the  stockholders  of  the  leased 
lines  as  well  as  of  the  Boston  and  Maine  itself,  with  the 
result  that  many  of  the  old  corporations  went  out  of 
existence  and  their  stockholders  exchanged  their  shares, 
par  for  par,  into  new  preferred  of  the  Boston  and  Maine, 
increasing  the  outstanding  amount  by  $38,817,900. 

The  lines  directly  leased  to  the  Boston  and  Maine  com- 
prise the  Boston  and  Lowell,  Concord  and  Montreal,  Con- 
necticut River,  Fitchburg,  Lowell  and  Andover,  Man- 
chester and  Lawrence,  and  Kennebunk  and  Kennebunk- 
port.  The  bonds  of  both  the  Boston  and  Maine  and  the 
leased  lines  will  remain  as  they  are.  The  $13,000,000  of 
short  term  notes  whose  renewal  proved  so  bothersome  a 
few  years  ago,  will  be  met  from  the  proceeds  of  the 
$20,000,000  cash  advanced  by  the  Government.  What 
the  future  will  bring  to  the  Boston  and  Maine  no  one  can, 
of  course,  predict,  but  just  now  the  situation  is  far  from 
cheering.  The  vicissitudes  of  the  road  have  been  many 
and  quite  unlike  those  of  the  newer  western  lines.  The 
Boston  and  Maine  should  have  millions  spent  on  its  road- 
bed and  bridges  ;  it  needs  new  equipment  of  every  kind, 
particularly  locomotives  and  cars.  Some  of  its  stations 
are  a  disgrace.  In  the  writer's  opinion,  also,  the  company 
is  heavily  burdened  with  an  overplus  of  officials,  particu- 
larly minor  ones.  A  reduction  of  these,  if  accomplished, 
would  also  mean  a  much  needed  paring  down  of  the  cleri- 
cal force.  There  exists,  too,  a  great  want  of  cooperation 
in  the  various  departments,  particularly  in  the  operating 
department.  If  a  sudden  flurry  or  accident  arises,  it 
seems  to  be,  **every  man  for  himself  and  the  devil  for  us 
all." 


76  TBCE  BOSTON   AND  MAINE   RAILROAD 

The  Portland  Division,  with  its  530  odd  miles  of  track, 
is  a  consolidation  of  the  old  Eastern  and  Western  Divis- 
ions. In  the  interest  of  safety  and  efficient  management 
it  should  be  divided  ;  530  miles  of  road  is  too  much  for 
one  man  to  supervise  properly,  and  it  is  also  far  too  much 
for  the  train  and  engine  crews,  particularly  the  latter,  to 
know  properly.  With  conservative  and  efficient  manage- 
ment, however,  the  Boston  and  Maine,  serving  as  it  does 
a  thickly  populated  district  of  New  England,  should,  in 
years  to  come,  become  one  of  the  country's  great  trans- 
portation systems. 


BY   FRANCIS   B.    G.    BRADLEE  77 

APPENDIX    1. 

Fluctuations    and    Dividends  of  the  Common  Stock  of  the 
Boston  and  Maine  Railroad  from  1838  to  1920.    Par,  1100. 


Tear 

Highest 

Lowest 

Dividend 
I'er  cent. 

1838 

.... 

.... 

*$3.00 

1839 

85 

«$6.00 

1840 

.... 

43i 

♦fS.SO 

1841 

80 

74 

*$5,50 

1842 

86 

75 

*$6.50 

1843 

106 

82 

6 

1844 

109 

102| 

6 

1845 

117 

107i 

7 

1846 

114i 

107| 

7 

1847 

118i 

108 

7i 

1848 

119 

106 

H 

1849 

109i 

100 

4 

1850 

107J 

101 

8i 

1851 

106^ 

102 

H 

1852 

110 

102 

7 

1853 

109i 

102 

n 

1854 

105i 

92 

8 

1855 

lOli 

83| 

7 

1856 

84 

74| 

6 

1857 

87 

73| 

6 

1858 

lOOi 

77 

6 

1859 

107 

96| 

7* 

1860 

112i 

102 

8 

1861 

115i 

lOOi 

n 

1862 

129 

105 

6 

1863 

135J 

121 

8 

1864 

141 

124 

8 

1865 

126i 

106 

8 

1866 

133 

115 

9 

1867 

138i 

125 

10 

1868 

141| 

131 

10 

1869 

146 

132i 

10 

1870 

153 

140 

10 

1871 

155i 

138 

8 

1872 

147 

124 

10 

1873 

127 

101 

8 

1874 

116 

lOlf 

8 

•Andover,  "Wilmington  and  Harerhill  R.  R. 


78  THE   BOSTON   AND    MAINE   RAILROAD 


Tear 

1875 
1876 
1877 
1878 
1879 
1880 
1881 
1882 
1883 
1884 
1885 

Highest 

124| 
110 
lOOJ 
110 

120i 

150f 

165i 

158f 

167 

167 

185i 

Lowest 

1054 

914 

87 

964 

1081 

119 

145 

1394 

148f 

145 

1664 

Dividend 
Per  cent. 

8 

6 

5 

6 

6 

I* 

8 
8 
8 
8 

1886 

212 

181 

9 

1887 

239 

2074 

10 

1888 

216 

175 

9 

1889 

216 

152 

9 

1890 

235 

188 

9i 

1891 

209| 

157 

9 

1892 

185| 

159 

8 

1893 

178 

130 

8 

1894 

162 

126 

6 

1895 

180 

160 

6 

1896 

171 

149 

1897 

170 

156i 

e 

1898 

200 

160 

7 

1899 

210 

170 

7 

1900 

2024 

187 

7 

1901 

200 

189 

7 

1902 

209 

1904 

7 

1903 

195 

161 

7 

1904 

1754 

158 

7 

1905 

1854 

158 

7 

1906 

1804 

160 

7 

1907 

170 

129 

7 

1908 

140 

114 

7 

1909 

153 

1324 

7 

1910 

152 

118 

7 

1911 

122f 

964 

7 

1912 

1004 

94 

4 

1913 

97 

35 

4 

1914 

55 

304 

none 

1915 

374 

20 

none 

1916 

52 

34 

none 

1917 

45 

15 

none 

1918 

40 

19 

none 

1919 

384 

28 

none 

BY  FRANCIS   B.   C.   BRADLEE  %9 

APPENDIX  2. 

Component  Parts  Forming  the   Present  Boston  and  Maine 

System. 

Old  Boston  and  Maine  Railroad. 
Boston  and  Maine 
Boston  and  Portland 
Andover  and  Haverhill 
Andover  and  Wilmington 
Boston  and  Maine  Extension 
Dan  vers  Railroad 
Dover  and  Winnipesaukee 
Kennebunk  and  Kennebunkport 
Lowell  and  Andover 
Manchester  and  Lawrence 
Medford  Branch 
Methuen  Branch 
Newburyport  Railroad 
Georgetown  Branch 
Orchard  Beach  Railroad 

Portland  and  Rochester  Railroad 
York  and  Cumberland  Railroad 

Eastern  Railroad  System, 
Eastern  Railroad  proper 
Portland,  Saco  and  Portsmouth 
Portsmouth,  Great  Falls  and  Conway 
Portsmouth  and  Dover 
Great  Falls  and  South  Berwick  Branch 
Rockport  Railroad 
South  Reading  Branch 
Marblehead  and  Lynn 
Wolfeboro  Railroad 
Essex  Branch 
Newburyport  City  Railroad 

Worcester  and  Nashna  Railroad 
Nashua  and  Rochester  Railroad 
Worcester,  Nashua  and  Portland  Railroad 

Boston  and  Loioell  System. 
Boston  and  Lowell 
Nashua  and  Lowell 
Salem  and  Lowell 
Central  Massachusetts 
Connecticut  and  Passumpsic  Rivers 
Lexington  and  Arlington 


80  THE   BOSTON    AND    MAINE   RAILROAD 

Lowell  and  Lawrence 

Manchester  and  Keene 

Massawippi  Valley 

Middlesex  Central 

Peterboro  Railroad 

Stanstead  Branch 

Stonehani  Branch 

Stony  Brook  Railroad 

Wilton  Railroad 

Boston,  Concord  and  Montreal 

Concord  Railroad 

Concord  and  Portsmouth 

Nashua,  Acton  and  Boston 

Mystic  River  Railroad 

Northern  Railroad,  N.  H. 

St.  Johnsbury  and  Lake  Champlain 

Vermont  Valley 

Fitchburg  System. 

Fitchburg  Railroad  proper 

Boston,  Barre  and  Gardner 

Boston,  Hoosac  Tunnel  and  Western 

Brookline  and  Milford 

Brookline  and  Pepperell 

Cheshire  Railroad 

Hoosac  Tunnel  and  Saratoga 

Monadnock  Railroad 

Peterboro  and  Shirley 

Southern  Vermont  Railway 

Troy  and  Bennington 

Troy  and  Boston 

Troy  and  Greenfield  and  Hoosac  Tunnel 

Vermont  and  Massachusetts 

Winchendon  Railroad 

White  Mountains  Railroad 

New  Boston  Railroad 

Pemigewasset  Valley 

York  Harbor  and  Beach  Railroad 
Connecticut  River  Railroad 
Mount  Washington  Railway 
Sullivan  County  Railroad 
Mechanicsville  and  Fort  Edward. 


BY    FRANCIS   B.   C.    BRADLEB 


81 


APPENDIX  3. 


Locomotives 

OF  THE  Boston 

AND  Maine  K. 

R.   IN  1860. 

Name 

Weight 

Diameter  of 
driving  wheels 

Diameter  of 

cylinders  and 

length  of  stroke 

Antelope 

13  tons 

5  ft.  6  ins. 

llf  X  22  ins. 

Bangor 

20  tons 

5  ft.  6  ins. 

14    X  18  ins. 

Boston 

20  tons 

5  ft. 

14    X  18  ins. 

Bay  State 

24  tons 

5  ft.  6  ins. 

15    X  20  ins. 

Ballard  Vale 

20  tons 

5  ft. 

14    X  18  ins. 

Cocheco 

12  tons 

5  ft. 

12    X  18  ins. 

Dragon 

14  tons 

4  ft.  6  ins. 

13^  X  20  ins. 

Dover 

24  tons 

4  ft.  6  ins. 

15    X  20  ins. 

Exeter 

24  tons 

4  ft.  6  ins. 

15    X  20  ins. 

Essex 

24  tons 

5  ft.  6  ins. 

15    X  18  ins. 

Granite  State 

24  tons 

5  ft.  6  ins. 

15    X  20  ins. 

Hinkley 

24  tons 

5  ft.  6  ins. 

15    X  20  ins. 

Lawrence 

23  tons 

5  ft. 

15    X  18  ins. 

Massachusetts 

22  tons 

5  ft.  6  ins. 

14i  X  18  ins. 

Maine 

25  tons 

4  ft.  6  ins. 

15    X  24  ins. 

Maiden 

13  tons 

5  ft.  6  ins. 

lU  X  20  ins. 

New  Hampshire 

25  tons 

4  ft.  6  ins. 

15    X  24  ins. 

Norris 

23  tons 

5  ft.  6  ins. 

15    X  22  ins. 

Ogiochook 

20  tons 

5  ft. 

14    X  18  ins. 

O.  W.  Bayley 

24  tons 

5  ft.  6  ins. 

15    X  20  ins. 

Portland 

13  tons 

5  ft.  3  ins. 

11^  X  20  ins. 

Heading 

13  tons 

5  ft. 

11^  X  20  ins. 

Rockingham 

24  tons 

4  ft.  6  ins. 

15    X  24  ins. 

Vermont 

23  tons 

4  ft.  6  ins. 

15    X  20  ins. 

Swampscott 

14  tons 

4  ft.  6  ins. 

13^  X  20  ins. 

United  States 

25  tons 

5  ft. 

15    X  24  ins. 

Merrimack 

25  tons 

5  ft.  6  ins. 

16    X  20  ins. 

Thomas  West 

25  tons 

5  ft.  6  ins. 

16    X  20  ins. 

Atlantic 

25  tons 

5  ft.  6  ins. 

15    X  22  ins. 

Pacific 

26  tons 

5  ft.  6  ins. 

15    X  22  ins. 

Yankee 

23  tons 

5  ft.  6  ins. 

14    X  22  ins. 

Newburyport 

23  tons 

5  ft.  6  ins. 

14    X  22  ins. 

Camilla 

21  tons 

5  ft. 

14    X  20  ins. 

Mystic 

21  tons 

5  ft. 

14    X  20  ins. 

THE   BOSTON   AND   MAINE   KAILROAD 


APPENDIX  4. 


Locomotive  Engines  of  the  Boston  and  Maine  R.  R,  in  1885. 


1.  Dragon. 

2.  Portland. 

3.  Reading. 

4.  Medford. 

5.  Norris. 

6.  Swampscott. 

7.  Antelope. 

8.  Memecho. 

9.  Massachusetts. 

10.  New  Hampshire. 

11.  Maine. 

12.  Lawrence. 
18.  Wannalancet. 
14.  Boston. 

16.  Ballardvale. 

16.  Essex. 

17.  Bay  State. 

18.  Granite  State. 

19.  Hinkley. 

20.  O.  W.  Bayley. 

21.  Rockingham. 

22.  United  States. 

23.  Thomas  West. 

24.  Merrimac. 

25.  Atlantic. 

26.  Pacific. 

27.  Haverhill. 

28.  Mystic. 

29.  Newburyport. 

30.  Camilla. 

31.  Andover. 

32.  Durham. 
38.  Hercules. 

34.  Exeter. 

35.  Strafford. 

36.  Alton  Bay. 

37.  Hobart  Clark. 

38.  James  Hayward. 

39.  Shawmut. 

40.  Lion. 


41.  Gen.  Grant. 

42.  Gen.  Sherman. 

43.  Middlesex. 

44.  Dover. 

45.  Gen.  Sheridan. 

46.  N.  G.  Paul. 

47.  Achilles. 

48.  Suffolk. 

49.  Machigonne. 

50.  North  Star. 

51.  Saxon. 

52.  Titan. 

53.  Mercury. 

54.  Sachem. 

55.  Forest  City. 

66.  Francis  Coggswell. 

57.  Minerva. 

58.  Wm.  Merritt. 

59.  Columbia. 

60.  Pepperell. 

61.  Old  Orchard. 

62.  Cumberland. 

63.  Transport. 

64.  Pilot. 

65.  Samoset. 

66.  Decatur. 

67.  Comet. 

68.  Casco. 

69.  Escort. 

70.  J.  C.  Ayer. 

71.  South  Berwick. 

72.  Lowell. 

73.  Saco. 

74.  S.  A.  Walker. 

75.  Maiden. 

76.  Melrose. 

77.  Wakefield. 

78.  Eagle. 

79.  Bradford. 

80.  Danvers. 


BY  FRANCIS   B.   C.   BRADLEE 


83 


81. 

Biddeford. 

126. 

Beverly. 

82. 

Everett. 

127. 

Conway. 

83. 

Somerville, 

128. 

Byfield. 

84. 

Arlington. 

129. 

Augusta. 

85. 

Camp  Ellis. 

130. 

Conqueror. 

86. 

Bay  View. 

131. 

Atherton. 

87. 

Newton. 

132. 

Bell  Rock. 

88. 

Kingston. 

133. 

Carroll. 

89. 

Atkinson. 

134, 

Boxford, 

90. 

Plaistow. 

135. 

Seabrook. 

91. 

Kennebunk. 

136. 

John  Howe. 

92. 

Madbury. 

137. 

Faulkner. 

93. 

Wilmington. 

138. 

Cape  Ann. 

94. 

Newmarket. 

139. 

Peabody. 

95. 

Methuen. 

140. 

Chelsea. 

96. 

Rollinsford. 

141. 

Great  Falls. 

97. 

Gen.  Meade. 

142. 

Amesbury. 

98. 

. 

143. 

Cocheco. 

99. 

Hinkley. 

144. 

Huntress. 

100. 

Cradock. 

145. 

Wm.  Smith. 

101. 

Maverick. 

146. 

Puritan. 

102. 

Gen.  Hancock. 

147. 

Topsfield. 

103. 

Wenham. 

148. 

Hampton. 

104. 

Ipswich. 

149. 

Rowley. 

105. 

Penobscot. 

150. 

Point  of  Pines. 

106. 

Forbes. 

151. 

Madison. 

107. 

Union. 

152. 

Henry  L.  Williams, 

108. 

Lynnfield. 

153. 

Nahant. 

109. 

Mousam. 

154. 

Salem. 

110. 

Scarborough. 

155. 

Devereaux. 

111. 

Montrose. 

156. 

Portsmouth. 

112. 

Arundel. 

157. 

North  Wind. 

113. 

Tiger. 

158. 

Farmington. 

114. 

Bonnebeag. 

159. 

America. 

115. 

Binney. 

160. 

Pilgrim. 

116. 

Rockport, 

161. 

Champion. 

117. 

Linden. 

162. 

Rochester. 

118. 

Gen.  Lander. 

163. 

Prides. 

119. 

Mayflower. 

164. 

Wolfeboro. 

120. 

Washington. 

165. 

Gloucester. 

121. 

Agawam. 

166. 

Ossipee. 

122. 

Moat  Mountain. 

167. 

Newington. 

123. 

Wellington. 

168. 

Beach  BlufE. 

124. 

Kearsarge. 

169. 

Boscobel. 

125. 

City  of  Lynn. 

170. 

Rye  Beach. 

84 


THE   BOSTON   AND   MAINE   RAILROAD 


171. 

Naumkeag. 

194. 

Gov.  Goodwin. 

172. 

George  Hood. 

195. 

Francis  Chase. 

173. 

Bangor. 

196. 

Greenland. 

174. 

Soraersworth. 

197. 

Tewksbury. 

175. 

John  Thompson. 

198. 

Gov.  Endicott. 

176. 

Saugiis. 

199. 

York. 

177. 

Salisbury. 

200. 

Sagamore. 

178. 

Passaconaway. 

201. 

The  Wentworth. 

179. 

Hamilton. 

202. 

Montserrat. 

180. 

Col.  Coleman. 

203. 

Eliot. 

181. 

Excelsior. 

204. 

Kittery. 

182. 

Enoch  Paine. 

205. 

Bryant. 

183. 

Manchester. 

206. 

Magnolia. 

184. 

Laconia. 

207. 

Lovell. 

185. 

Agamenticus. 

208. 

Broadway. 

186. 

Atalanta. 

209. 

Wamesit. 

187. 

Lebanon. 

210. 

Longfellow. 

188. 

Wells. 

211. 

James  Bowdoin. 

189. 

Revere. 

212. 

Major  Rice. 

190. 

Piscataqua. 

213. 

W.  P.  Fessenden, 

191. 

Chocorua. 

214. 

Falmouth. 

192. 

Kennebec. 

215. 

Middleton. 

193. 

Glenwood. 

The  locomotives  numbered  101  and  upwards  were  those 
belonging  to  the  old  Eastern  Railroad  when  it  was  leased 
to  the  Boston  and  Maine  in  December,  1884.  At  that 
time  these  engines  were  no  longer  named,  the  Eastern 
having  given  up  the  practice.  The  Boston  and  Maine 
proceeded  to  rename  them,  reviving  some  of  the  former 
Eastern  names  and  adding  other  new  ones.  The  custom 
of  naming  locomotives  was  given  up  about  1895,  the 
Boston  and  Maine  being  one  of  the  last  roads  in  this  part 
of  the  country  to  keep  up  the  practice. 


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